Motherhood and Beyond

So I saw this random quiz on 10 Things You May Not Know About Me.  If you are up to go ahead and post 10 things your friends may or may not know about you.  Don’t think about it, just fill it in.  Nothing to be embarrassed about.  Here are my 10…in no specific order.

1.  My love language is Quality Time.

2.  I love Sharpie Pens.

3.  I threw up throughout the entire labor and delivery with Eliana.

4.  I love to grocery shop at Kroger.  (This is a new thing!)  And I love to shop the ad on Sunday night and go through my coupons.

5.  I sucked my thumb until I was 8 (only because Cheryl Wilson told me my thumb would turn blue and fall off.)

6.  I remember names and dates quite well.

7.  I love towels and comforters and would buy one every time Pottery Barn or Land’s End came out with a new catalog.

8.  One of my favorite places is on the farm with Dadddy.

9.  I went to Clemson University not knowing a soul.

10.  I slept on top of The Great Wall of China.

There you have it.  Please post yours.  I would love to read them.  It is just for fun!

So hello fellow friends!  It has been a while.  Let me just say blogging has taken a back seat lately.  Life has been moving along.  The house is well under construction.  You can read about it here.  Ellie is growing leaps and bounds and I am amazed at what she is learning.  Here are a few things she is doing now….

• Not talking too much but sounding like she is putting sentences together.  She can say “Do That” and “Again”.  
• Last night before prayer time she grabbed Craig and my hand and bowed her head to pray.  Tears of Joy overwhelmed us both.
• She likes to color and to see her name written.
• She loves to give kisses and hugs
• If You Are Happy and You Know It is her favorite song.  She loves to sing and clap along to other songs.
• She is INFATUATED with shoes!
• She is learning to use a fork.

We just love her so much.  She is so active and so much fun.

This morning I just fininshed my last day of the Study of Esther.  Today at Bible Study we will watch the video.  I am have been amazed at the story and treasure it in my heart.  Even though God is not mentioned in the book, HE is all over the book.  You can see HIS PROVIDENCE on each page.  God has put us in certain circumstances “for such a time as this”.  I know that if I wait on an event to happen, I will be zapped.  But if I wait on the Lord my spirit will be strenthened and renewed (Is. 40:31).  I know that if _______________ happens, I will praise my God with my inmost being and with every breath I have.  It is amazing how many different ways the blank can be filled in.  And how scared I am to fill it in.  Because I think if I do fill it in, then it is real and will happen.  Yes I have filled it in on the privacy of my heart and on the pages of my book.  But I do know that GOD IS GOD and He will get all the praise and honor and glory.  That I cannot deny.  I may question it but I KNOW. 

Craig and I are still living at his parents house while ours is under construction.  Things are going well.  We have been to Charleston for a week together.  That was so nice.  Craig had a class to take and I had a mini vacation.   Ellie stayed with mom and dad.  This past week Craig was in Orlando for another class and Ellie and I went to see my parents again.  We had a great time.  On the way home Ellie got sick in the car as soon as we got on I-85 in Atlanta.  I started to panic and did what I could to get off to a gas station and get her cleaned up.  It was just a one time deal.  She then slept for a while while I fought the urge to be sick myself.  Crazy how psychological that is.  She was fine after we got home and bathed and ate.  Yes I broke down in tears but I did the best I could. 

So for now, I will do better to update.  Also, check out the new link to Beth Moore’s blog.

December has brought us the first snow!  It was beautiful and so much fun to see.  Ellie enjoyed it until she fell in…then it was over for her.  You can see her thrill in it when she is standing by the snowman…

My brother-in-law was honored with this award while serving in Afganistan.  Check it out here.

Thanks John for serving our country bravely!  We love you and look forward to you coming home!

The past couple of weeks have been a little more difficult.  Eliana is teething and Craig has been sick with the flu.  Where is the fun in that?  I have noticed Eliana has been waking up at nights.  She has been crying out and sometimes I have to go and others I don’t.  Saturday night she was crying on and off through the night.  I finally realized that she is probably teething and trying to cut her molars.  The four front teeth have not bothered here before.  I started to investigate and noticed swollen gums and can feel knots.  I have noticed a change in bowels and a diaper rash.  Not to mention IRRITABILITY!  Wow!  I had also noticed she had been digging in her ear.  I had already taken her to our office for Dr. Caroline to look in her ears and they were fine.   So we are loading up with Tylenol, Teething tablets, and Orajel.  I am not overdoing it.  I just have to do something to help comfort her.   Last night she slept much better and so did I.  I just hope this ends soon because it is the pits!

Okay.  I just got off the phone with Babies R Us because I was looking at a Maclaren Triumph stroller.  I was online and had a coupon for 10% off all strollers.  Since the store did not have the color I wanted I would buy it online since they were having free shipping.  The lady in the store said we could use our coupon.  So I go to order it or see how much it would be with the coupon.  It would not apply the coupon.  So I called them and found out that Maclaren does not allow store coupons for their items.  After I asked “Ashley” why they did not tell us that in the store, she said, “The store has different rules than us.”  So let me get this straight…Babies R Us and babiesrus.com are different?  Seems like customers ALWAYS get the short end of the stick.  Ah…I am frustrated.

Can someone please tell me a brand of diaper that does not leak?  I have tried Pampers, Walmart, and Target.  I have moved her up to size 4 and still leaking!

Here are some random pics from October…

Craig and I have decided to keep a journal/blog of our house building process.  Check it out here.  We are still working on the looks of it.

We moved this weekend!  What a weekend!  We are still tired and still unpacking.  We were blessed to have Eliana stay at my parents in GA for 5 days.  I am sure it felt like an eternity to them!  She had fun and is worn out.  We have rented a storage unit and for 2 weeks or so Craig has worried that our stuff would not fit.  I had to be positive and tell him not to worry about it!  It will all be fine.  Saturday came and it started early by trying to round up our two cute and adorable cats.  HA!  Our plan was to catch Molly first since she is the devil cat.  No such luck.  So we had to let them be and keep the doors closed as we moved.  We had Molly trapped in the bathroom and Kitty in another room.  We Kitty got out of that room  and disappeared.  Aline said she went upstairs and someone else saw her downstairs.  I did not worry about her until I started to look for her.  No such luck.  I saw the look on Craig’s face and knew she was missing.  I started to look outside and she was nowhere.  About 10 minutes later Dave found her wrapped up in my heating blanket in the closet.  I had looked in the closet but not IN the blanket!  She was curled up and hiding.  By this point the guys were heading out with the first load in the UHaul.  Jenny, Aline and I stayed behind.  Our mission:  to round up the cats!  I was able to get Kitty with not much of a problem.  I am not sure if Aline and Jenny were fully aware of what Molly could do and what noises she could make while trying to round her up.  I went in to the bathroom and sat on the tub while she growled and purred at the same time.  I finally got in the tub with my towel in hand and she let out the most horrible noises ever.  Jenny came in with the carrier and with one swoop she was in!  Now, I am not sure if you get excited about little things but here are three girls celebrating and high fiving because we got a cat in the carrier!  It was great!  Now on to taking them to their new home…the basement of Dave and Erla’s.  They made it okay.  Later that evening when we were basically done Craig and I went down to check on them.  No cats around.  Where are they?  I looked up and saw that two tiles in the ceiling were moved from a previous leak.  No.  They could not be up there.  No way.  But Kitty loves to climb and jump.  Still. No way.  YES WAY!  Kitty was in the ceiling!  Craig was able to get her down.  Now we had to find Molly.  Happened to find Molly behind the couch still hissing at me!  Quickly closed up the ceiling!  They are now adjusting to new life.  Molly has stopped hissing at me but stays her distance.  Kitty is all over the place! 

Thanks to all who helped us!  It was greatly appreciated!