ramblings

Nothing makes you appreciate time like having a baby.

You get less than 9 months to enjoy time with you and your spouse. Before you know everything is going to change.

The time it takes to get through one intense contraction, can feel like a life time.

I never appreciated sleep like I do now. Pretty sure I was asleep BEFORE 9pm last night.

Having time to not just take a shower, but wash one's hair and you can forget about shaved legs.

Mascara? Thats something singles wear.

Forget having the time to go to places like Chipotle, Panera, or any place without a drive through.

I can't even work as long as I'd like to in the office because of child care. So I spend a lot of nights working from home, once JT is down.

The average span of a life time is 3,744 weeks.  From birth to age 18 is just 936 weeks.

936

936

That's it. That's all. That's all I get.

Every moment counts. Every smile, and so does every tear.

And when he gets older, so will every prayer. Every chance to share The Gospel. Every teaching moment, to respond in love and grace.

 I couldn't imagine trying to spend these next 936 weeks without being in dedicated prayer. Not only is raising a child a literal matter of life and death, but also eternal life and death.

Time. We only get so much time to make a difference. To teach them about Jesus and the fact that he died so we could live. The fact that he was perfect and yet still died for OUR crap. Because THAT is the only the that matters.

I pray I use my time wisely.

I pray you will also.

I know absolutely nothing about parenting. But I know I can't do it without Christ.

Thats all for now
- J & and a sleepy little boo

It's a Baby, not a Baby Registry.

I was recently encouraged to start blogging again especially about being a new mother. Because we all know I can be painfully honest and sometimes people like that. Other times.. not so much. BUT I thought I'd go for it.

Most of my friends are either pregnant, just had a baby, or want babies. I guess I'm at that stage in my life. That and Bible college students do things 5 years earlier than the rest of society.

When Brian and I got married I tried hard to focus my attention on preparing for my marriage more than my wedding. And I Praise God I did.  I wish I had had enough brains to do the same when John Thomas came along. Instead I was more caught up in America's wonderful marketing lies that I needed  thousands of dollars worth of merchandise, and the beautiful art of denial that I was actually have a human being.

As long as I focused on what crib to buy, which car seat was safest and what outfit made me look less like a hippo, I didn't have to face the reality that one day I'd have to be a parent. I didn't have to think about my baggage and sin being passed on to my child. As long as I wore earrings that pulled the attention away from my belly (which works BTW) I didn't have to think that Brian and I would have to pray even harder against the Devi's attacks.

I wish I cared less about Babies R Us sales and more about preparing myself to be a Godly mother.

I think the Devil hides behind the dreams of perfect wedding photo's and cute cuddly babies. He takes our focus off of the seriousness of the life changes and puts it on cute little boy polos (I mean seriously is there anything cuter than a 3 month old in a polo).

Christ.

Christ needs to be my focus. Praying I allow him to chip away and make him the woman and mother of God he wants me to be.

I wish that was my prayer from the start of this journey, and praying it's yours.

26 Weeks

ok, I REALLY am 26 weeks this week. But tomorrow I'm 27 weeks.

How far along? 26 weeks

Total weight gain/loss:  not sure, but I go to the Dr. tomorrow.  

 Maternity clothes? yes, but not all the time. this dress is not maternity.
Stretch marks? not yet.
Sleep:  good, mostly.
Best moment this week:   is it weird if I said I've had a good week at work?
Have you told family and friends: Yes!
Miss Anything? not having an alien in my stomach
Movement: holy cow, he doesn't have a lot of room so i feel EVERYTHING. and it hurts 

Anything making you queasy or sick:  nope
Labor Signs: Nope
Belly Button in or out? It's flat
Wedding rings on or off? On.
Happy or Moody most of the time: probably moody.
Looking forward to:  tomorrow's dr.'s appointment and a date with  my baby dadddy. 

I've decided that every day I wake up, and every day I make it through with out going into labor is worthy of Praising God. I'm being completely serious. Yes, If I said I didn't have anxiety about labor, I'd be lying. But I'm talking about poppin' this baby out before he's ready. Somebody I only know by name had twins at 24 weeks. </3. They are doing well in the NICU - but still how absolutely nerve racking that would be. So yes, any day I make it through, is a good day.

I've also decided that I have a lot to do between now and christmas. which means now and December 1st. I want to buy shelves and get all of our pictures hung before the 1st. So when the 1st comes. I can decorate for christmas with out any issues.

I've also decided I'm making my own stockings and ornaments this year. Don't worry. I'll post pictures. Although again, it's not like it's my own idea. I believe in plagiarism.

Ok thats all for now. Maybe tomorrow I"ll post again with a 27 week picture. But it will look the same. Just a different outfit. :)

-J & Little Boo.

Mustache or Bow?

The new thing in life is to throw a gender reveal party for your friends and family on what gender the baby is going to be.

So, naturally me always being up for a party decided I was going to throw one. I was going to post all the pictures in one big post. But I have a TON of pictures. Instead I'll post separately.

I wanted to throw this party shortly after we found out what the gender of the baby was going to be. But not too far after. But I also needed to make invitations and get them sent out. So with a little prayer, I ended up sending out invitations before I even had a Sono appointment.

I scoured pintrest and google looking for themes for the party. And came up with "Mustaches or Bows". Like most of what I do for crafts, this was not my idea. I stole it from somebody.


Heres what the invite looked like.WHICH I did create myself. In publisher. One slow Friday afternoon.

 Cute huh? I will post more on it. When I have time. Which is never. BUT the party really did turn out awesome. And I think everyone had fun. Although I'll tell you. I had 13 people RSVP. and almost 30 showed up.... I love my friends.

a Savior has been born

This year one of my brothers had his first child. His name is Samuel, and he's the cutest little boy you've ever seen. Christmas night I helped bathe and change him into his little bear footie pj's. He is the first grandchild of my parents. Which automatically makes him the favorite. Anyways.... on to the reason for this post.


Every year before my family opens presents we read the Christmas story. It's a way my family keeps thing meaning real. This year was a little different, because we had a little baby in our midst.

As my eldest brother was reading the story, Samuel was blocking my view so I decided to look at him. I was thinking about Jesus being a baby. About the fact that he was fully God yet fully human.

Being a baby is humbling, which is why I think we don't remember it. He was fully God, yet he had to have somebody change his 1st Century diaper. Let me tell you it wasn't as easy as taking disposable Elmo off his tush. What person of royalty in our world would want to be treated like that? He could command everything and anything he wanted, yet he came to us as a helpless baby.

I hope this smacks you in the face.

I hope it makes you appreciate just all that he did for us.

We sing songs about little baby Jesus. But when do we grasp it? Did he have spit that somebody had to wipe off? Did he cry after he first woke up? He was dependent on Mary and Joseph for everything. They had to bathe him, feed him, change his nasty diapers and maybe his not so nasty ones.

Humbleness at it's max.

Do you think he remembered? Do you think he knew that he was the King of kings as they were cleaning his mess up? Maybe not. But it gives me something to think about it.

I don't like humbling myself. And I'm not even the King of Kings. But he's definitely taught me a lesson.

We truly serve an Amazing God.

thats all for now
-j