Jimmy Wayne

We had the privilege of attending "A Night with Jimmy Wayne," last night. Our agency Arrow and the Ark Church came together to put on this event.

He shared his AMAZING testimony, and he spoke about his project Meet Me Half Way. You must check it out!

Of course, this mama messed up and left her camera at home. Yep, the ONE time I leave it at home, (it has a permanent spot in my diaper bag).

This will have to do. Thank God for camera phones right?

We bought Sweetpea a little poster so she could have his autograph. :)

We also got to meet Mark Tennant. He is the founder and CEO of Arrow and he too has an amazing story! We were able to meet his mom, and I would have loved to sit and talk with them for hours, oh and Jimmy too! :)

I wish he would have played this song. I love my Paper Angel. :)

He did play this song!

If you are wondering how Sweetpea is a Paper Angel... she is a paper angel in the cps files, and she was a paper angel on a Christmas tree this year, (like the Salvation Army but for Foster kids).Praise Jesus for our Paper Angel!

Moments I Miss Her

Of course I will always miss my sister, but there are some moments that I miss her more.

I have always had a memory of a fairy tale with Helen Hunt in it. Was it a true memory? Was it something I made up?

My mom got Faerie Tale Theater on DVD and I thought that would solve my problem. No luck.

Well, I finally succumbed to my curiosity and searched it on Google.

I was right. Helen Hunt was in the movie, Frog Prince.

It was in a series called Cannon Movie Tales. Click here to see these movies.

I must have seen all of these growing and and forgot all about them. I watched Frog Prince a few days ago and I am watching Hanzel and Gretel right now and ht memories are flowing back. Most of my imaginative play came from what I watched in these movies!

This is when I miss Tracie most. I don't think my younger siblings would remember these movies if they even saw them in the first place. I want to call her and I know she would share in my excitement.

Did you watch these Tales?

Wicked Cute

I was surfing etsy for Boston themed stuff just because I miss the town so much. Seriously, I'd move there tomorrow.

I found a lot of items that were pretty cute and one in particular that I really liked.

SO cute! And, of course I love the little birdie. It can be purchased here. While I love it, it costs $49. Mr. Incredible said I could get it, but I wanted to take a swing at it myself first.

Today I ran to Michael's, (gasp, not Hobby Lobby! I know- crazy!), and I found a comparable locket and chain for a whopping $8! Total.

I lost the white lace. I liked the idea, but it kinda looked like the tag was left on it or something. Also, I had planned on covering up the fake clock, but since we went to Boston on our THIRD anniversary, I figured it would be a cute memorial. :)
My Modge Podge is still wet, so getting a pic sans glare was really hard. This will have to do. {the one on etsy looks a million times better simply because she caught a better pic... mine looks nice in person, I promise}

Oh, and I think I will be adding some bling... hmm, we'll see... it needs a lil somethin', somethin'.

Fenway Park on the front, Fenway Park on the inside. :)

I liked the length... please ignore my tshirt. I know, I am so stylish I could be the next Rachel Zoe. {Ok, you can stop laughing at me know}
With the other part of my map I made this picture frame for our bedroom. Yes, I still plan a Boston theme. Now that my back is pretty much healed it is on my list of to-dos.

Total Cost of necklace: $8 + cost of map...
Total Cost of frame: $1 + cost of map...
Map was right under $3. So, both projects cost about $12... not to mention I have map left over for future projects.

A necklace costing a little more than $8 beats $49 any day... even if her necklace is prettier than mine. ;)

Better late than never

Baby girl only had 2 teeth until about February 22 when she cut three top teeth. (remember her freak fever spike in the hospital?) Now she is working on her molars. That is what the dentist said last week, and boy was he right- just waiting for them to make their debut. 5 teeth at 15 months- I love my late bloomer! ;)

Oh, and someone needs to make this kid happy. Such an unhappy baby. NOT! She's pure joy. All.the.time.

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Super Girl

Sweetpea is getting stronger everyday! She crawled on Wednesday with the slight help of her PT. She'll be mobile soon! She has been able to do the below skill on her own for awhile now, with just a little guidance. At PT on Wednesday, she mastered it all by herself! {Yes, I helped her with her foot in this video, but she can do that alone too now}

Oh, and please ignore her mismatched pjs. :)

Scout's Honor

Y'all I promise I am not a slacker. My computer may or may not have a virus. It needs to see the dr to be sure. I am not about to upload pics to it if it is indeed sick, so that is why I have been lacking posts.

Hopefully it will get looked at soon so I can get back to blogging.

Last week Sweetpea learned how to say she was one with her finger. Now if I say the word one, she holds up her finger automatically. She immediately said Na na when I asked if she liked her banana, and last night she said boom, boom, as in the song, Firework, {boom, boom, boom, even brighter than the moon, moon, moon}.

Mr. Incredible always asks me when she will start really talking. Seriously, any day now. :)

I have a bajillion pictures to post on here. In due time.

Happy Girl

Sweetpea finally is getting her teeth, (up to 5 now and she has mastered chewing), so I have finally started giving her real food. She is so happy with her new big girl food... bananas for lunch and spaghetti for dinner. She is so proud. I don't know about y'all other moms, but I love watching her feed herself! Oh and when I asked if she liked the banana, she replied, "nana." :) Sorry for lack of posts- computer still needs to see the dr.

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Three Green Titles

"Saint" Patrick's Day

We remember Patrick today for a reason. Do you know what that is? Patrick brought the Gospel to pagan Ireland, and used the shamrock as a visual representation of God- 1 God in 3 parts, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Today we are TRULY celebrating the Gospel and remembering the man that shared that gospel with Ireland. Instead of pinching and drinking beer, we should be praising Jesus and praying for our missionaries, (not to mention sharing the Gospel ourselves)!

Take note that I did not refer to him as "Saint" Patrick. He is not a Saint, in the Catholic sense. If you are a born again Christian, a Saved, Redeemed, Believer in Jesus Christ, then you are a saint. Patrick is a saint, my sister is a saint, I am a saint. Not capital S Saint, but little s saint. "We are the saints, we are the children, we've been redeemed, we've been forgiven, we are the sons and the daughters of our God." (Children of God by Third Day)

The Tshirt

I have never shared this story with anyone, and I am pretty sure even my family doesn't know this story. It is one of my fondest memories of my sister, Tracie, and one of my proudest moments of her.

Every year on "St" Patrick's Day I wear this tshirt. When I put it on this morning, it brought me back to 2005. I was a freshman in college. It was around January I believe.

Tracie came to me with a delimma and request. You see, she was in a class where she sat between to atheists, (one behind her and one in front of her). They passed sticky notes daily, (that of course she had to pass between them), that bashed God and Christians. They never disposed of them, so after class she brought some home to show me. We devised a plan to help her be more bold in standing up for Jesus and His saints. She asked to borrow a large amount of my Christian tshirts, and she planned to wear them to class everyday for awhile, while also writing stuff on their sticky notes- or maybe we wrote sticky notes of our own...

The reason I thought of this shirt is that I remember when I let her borrow my shirts, I said, "you can borrow them for awhile, but I want this one back and cleaned before March 17th so I can wear it to work." :)

Blessings

On Facebook this morning I noticed a friends status:

"If I believe everything happens for a reason, how can I then go to God for strength and courage to bring me out of it? How could I ask him to deliver me? How could I stand on the authority of the blood of Jesus that was given to me by God in the way of his son being sent to die on the cross? I couldn't do these things if I believed that God had any part in my suffering because it would be contradictory."

I'm not quite sure if I am reading it correctly, but I will respond with how I interpreted it. :)

Basically I see her questioning God's sovereignty in suffering, in other words, "how can God let bad things happen, and how is that for good?"

My response is simple.

Firstly, I never feel closer to God than when I am going through a trial. Sounds weird? Then think of it this way, on September 11th when thousands were suffering, can you imagine how many people prayed to God that day. Believers prayed. Unbelievers prayed. And I would think it is safe to say that atheists prayed that day. Even the staunchest unbeliever turns to God in trials. (not ALL I know, I'm just saying that it DOES happen). That is one of the many reasons "bad" things happen- to bring us to God.

Secondly, when Adam and Eve sinned, they brought sin into the world. We are sinners destined for eternity in Hell. God loved us so much that He wanted a way for us to join Him in heaven, but He being a perfectly Just Judge God could not just open up the gates to welcome us all in. So He found a solution.

He sent His Son, Jesus, to earth. Jesus, being wholly God and wholly man, lived a perfectly sinless life. God wanted/needed a payment for the sins of the world. Jesus paid that price. He was wrongly accused. Beaten, spat on and greatly insulted. He was nailed to the cross, (after carrying it through town), and died for our benefit. On the third day He rose from the grave and walked the earth for 40 days after that and was witnessed by over 5,000 people.

Our ticket into heaven is a perfectly sinless, Holy, God exhaulting life. No one, not one of us could ever do this. So Jesus stepped in and paid our fine. If we trust in Jesus as our ONLY way to heaven and repent of our sins living for His glory, we will be Saved and will be able to join Him in heaven. It really is htat simple.

So, back to the FB status, if I read it correctly, my above 2 points will answer the question. Also, I have a song that answers this beautifully too.

My husband told me about this song and I knew I would love it. I finally heard it on the radio the day after we passed on Nemo. I cried hysterically while driving.

I have mentioned Romans 8:28 on this blog numerious times and this song exemplifies this verse beautifully. I have lived this song so many times. My sister. Woody and Buzz. Nemo. Our hospital stay. And many, many more times too.

James 1:2-3 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.

Pacifier?

Sorry I've been absent. Hopefully this will hold you over. :) Here is a piece I made for Sweetpea's room. Ignore the glare. :)

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Old School

I have a sewing machine but I've been leery about using it. Lately I've just bitten the bullet and have hand stitched everything, (see post below). I've been wanting to applique my own shirts, so I decided to do it by hand...if it holds up in the wash then I'll continue-won't ever need etsy. :)

You know the whole peace, love and happiness symbols? Well here is my version: faith, love, and orphans. :)

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Anne Geddes

After 2 weeks in the hospital and the news of yesterday, (see post below), I thought we needed a fun post. Whatcha say? :)

Do you remember Anne Geddes? Who doesn't love her work, seriously? :)

I saw a to.die.for item on etsy.com. It reminded me of Ms. Geddes' work and I was inspired to try to replicate it, (cause $60 was too much to spend on a photo shoot item).

After about 8 hours of hand stitching, I have to say I am rather proud of my work. Sometimes when you try to create something it turns out no so great, sometimes it turns out better than planned. This is one of those times. {A few weeks ago I mentioned I made something I was proud of... this is it}


Who doesn't love hydrangeas? They are my favorite flower. :) Not to toot my own horn, but I just love how they turned out! It makes me smile. :)

Losing Nemo

I am heartbroken to report that we are no longer pursuing the adoption of Nemo.

We have wanted him since August, and thought we were getting him in November. We waited ever since, and not too long ago we were ecstatic to receive news that we were officially, (finally), getting him.

Our Sweetpea has Spina Bifida and we thought Nemo had Cerebral Palsy, (mother did drugs while pregnant). They are a month apart, so we were pretty much adopting twins with special needs. I knew we could handle that. It is a little overwhelming, but we could have done it. In spite of their issues, they would live pretty normal lives.

Today we got devestating news. The drugs had left him with permanent damage.

He is 16 months old and has the brain of a 4 month old. He always will.

We are heartbroken for his future, and not happy with his mother's choice.

This new discovery however, left us with a terrible decision to make.

Two special needs babies was overwhelming, but doable. Nemo is now severely special needs. I think I could have handled it, but is that fair to Sweetpea? Is it fair to Nemo?

If Nemo was our only child...If Sweetpea was older...IF, IF, IF.

We weighed all the pros and cons, and decided that it was in the best interest of both babies for us not to take Nemo.

I have always and will always fully believe in Romans 8:28. I still fear for his future as I do for Woody and Buzz's. I know I just have to trust in God's plan for them.

Please pray for Nemo. Pray that his future family finds him soon, and selfishly, I ask you pray for me. Pray that I will be 100% at peace with this decision.

I am heartbroken, but I know this is the best decision. Eventually my heart will catch up with my mind...

Relief

Monday Sweetpea went into surgery to relive her cyst and it was quick and the cyst began going down immediately. Tuesday morning we got a CT and it showed that the cyst was going down but her ventricles were now swelling. Another surgery was possibly needed. Although I did not want her to undergo another surgery, I was hoping that if it was necessary, it would happen while we were still in the hospital.

Wednesday Sweetpea began going downhill. She was very sleepy and only had 10 ounces all day. I requested her to be put on iv and was scrutinized by nurses, (she is probably just sleepy, she is on meds, etc). No. Something was wrong. Her Dr agreed that something was wrong and decided to keep us until today. Later that day we got another CT. The ventricles were increasing still, but not enough yet. We would try again Thursday. I was to watch for her to vomit or become unresponsive.

This morning we got the final CT and it showed the cyst was still draining properly, but her ventricles had finally increased quick enough for action. While waiting for surgery, she stopped eating completely, she vomited and became unresponsive. Needless to say her surgery could not come soon enough. An unresponsive baby is just horrible.

Her surgery was once again very quick, and when we saw her in recovery she was a new baby. Even though she had been under anesthetic and she had her brain cut into, she was already more herself than she had been all day. I had never been so happy to see her eat!!

I am one happy Mama! I think we have finally solved her problem. Please pray that we indeed have.

One thing I have learned through these 11 nights in the hospital is that Mama is always right- SPEAK UP MAMAS!! I will go into details later on other aspects of this experience for all you Mamas out there.

Thank you all so much for praying and for your genuine love and concern for our family!