Spring Fever

Spring is here finally in Indiana and our life has been busy and exciting lately for sure! Here is an update on what's going on in our life...

Emmy is ten months old now and doesn't stop moving from the time she wakes up to the time she goes to bed at night it seems! She is pulling up on everything and even trying to balance on her own which she is getting quite successful at! I think some first steps are in her near future, perhaps a little sooner than Mommy may be ready for! I can't believe it has almost been a year since I gave birth to my little miracle!

She has gone from a precious little baby to a speed crawling little munchkin that loves to explore and she is more fun than ever to play with and take places! She is really enjoying making friends in the nursery and playing and watching other kids! It amazes me how well she does play by herself too, she is a thinker and loves to play with one thing and really think about how it works and what she can do with it. The sleeping is getting better, we have good days and not so good days still, but she is such a happy girl either way and I am so thankful for that! She loves people and will smile at everyone that looks her way! She has two teeth on the bottom and her top two front ones just poked through last week too! She's done well with teething, just has a runny nose for a few days before she cuts one and the orajel has come in handy if she gets a little fussy with them. She is so good about going to other people and being separated from Mommy for a while, whether it's the nursery or staying with a grandparent or babysitter, she does really well! She even let Mommy and Daddy get away for a night to Charleston recently! Here are pictures of us playing in the sunshine on the deck! So much fun!

Jon and I have begun a new chapter of our ministry to teens this month as Mother's Day marked our first Sunday to begin our new ministry at Mount Tabor Baptist Church in Brownsburg, IN! We were sad to say goodbye to our teens at Calvary, but God made it clear it was time to move on from there. We stepped out on faith to begin our ministry at Calvary with the goal of getting the youth department started and God worked and grew the group from 10 to 40 in the two years we were there, and all the praise goes to Him! We saw ten teenagers accept Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior and watched with great joy as their lives were changed by the power of the Holy Spirit working in them! We pray for them continually that they will remain faithful to all they have learned and will continue to grow closer to God. Jon and I are excited for the future and all God has in store as now we will be able to serve Him full time working with the children and teens at Mount Tabor! He has truly given us the desires of our heart and we are overwhelmed with joy to be in the center of His will for our lives!

We will be moving from Crawfordsville to Brownsburg sometime in June this summer so it will be a busy one but an exciting one!

 

Catching Up!

Wow, I've been horrible at blogging lately! There has been a lot going on in our lives, some good things and some hard things, for which we are thankful to God for both! Oh how God has been teaching me to rejoice through not only the good times, but also the hard times! So let me catch you up a bit...

Motherhood has definitely been a challenge for me lately as my little one has decided to be the ultimate sleep hater and not sleep well at night anymore or for naps. Yikes! This explains the trouble of me not getting a chance to blog. : ( Steadily it is improving as I've had to become a tough mommy and let her cry it out. I've learned to prioritize my life more and let go of little things that aren't important to stress over. I am quite the perfectionist and God has been growing me to not worry so much about things. He has also been teaching me that all I need is Him and that He allows things in my life for a reason to accomplish His purpose in me! I'm learning not to buck against the trials in life, but to embrace them rejoicing over the outcome of drawing closer to my precious Savior!

This summer will bring lots of changes in our lives we are gearing up for, and we are so excited to continue seeing God work in us and in our ministry to teenagers! More details to come...

Our little Emmy is growing light a weed! She is crawling and pulling up on everything now! We have officially baby-proofed our house and she is so fun to watch as mobility has opened up a whole new world to her! She is such a happy baby (even despite the no sleep thing). She loves to play and explore!

Recently Emmy and I took our first plane trip together out to Kansas City to see my family and friends...

It was quite the adventure riding a plane together, we enjoyed the way home much more than the way there! I think we have the hang of it now! So hopefully we'll get to see our Grammy and Grandpa and everyone much more in the future!

That's all for now!

What to do when you're cooped up in the house for a week...

So the weather outside has been truly frightful here in Indiana, as in a lot of places! With my hubby stranded in Chicago at a pastor's conference, Emmy and I have been totally iced and snowed in here this week with only each other to talk to...needless to say, mommy is ready to get out and about again! I am foreseeing a nice all-day shopping trip in the near future when daddy returns! : )

What we've been up to...

Taking walks in the snow, Emmy loves to ride in the Snuggli and look at all the trees and pretty snow!

My cute little snow bunny!

Then we like to warm up with a homemade latte...Mmmm...can't wait for Emmy to enjoy them with me someday!

We've also been working on crawling, Emmy is trying really hard to get somewhere these days and it's only a matter of time before we'll be babyproofing our entire house! I can't believe she's grown up so fast! And look at that head of hair!! I think it grows more everyday! I can't wait to buy and make some cute barrettes!

Where do you think you're heading miss Emmy...?

While Mommy cleans and gets work done, Emmy is also a fan of her new bouncer! She giggles and bounces and giggles some more!

Just chillin with my favorite dolly...

So we've been doing lots of playing, cleaning, and reading! And we praise the Lord for watching over us and keeping our power on when almost the whole town of Crawfordsville lost their power, and all of Indianapolis! Prayer is a powerful thing, and God definitely took care of us and heard our prayers to keep us safe in the storm! How thankful I am that God is always near, whether it is weather storms, or the trials and storms of life. He is my "ever-present help..." Psalm 46:1



An Amazing Gift

Over the past couple of weeks God has been convicting me and encouraging me in my prayer life, and I just have to share what I have learned and what God has taught me! I have been reading the book "The Power of a Praying Wife" by Stormie OMartian, and I highly recommend it to all wives! God has been working in me through different difficult situations we've been going through, and how thankful I am for trials because of how God works in my life through them. They are hard, frustrating, and very discouraging, but so worth the growth spiritually. Ecclesiastes 7:3 says "Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better". Trials teach us to rely upon God, instead of ourselves, which is something I've always struggled with. I try to do things in my own strength, and when things don't go as planned, I get down and frustrated and discouraged. So why do I complain when I can pray? Why be discouraged when I can pray? Prayer is an amazing tool God has given me to alter and change our life situations for the better! So why wouldn't I? I find myself praying about anything and everything now, even little, seemingly insignificant things. Mostly, I need to pray for my husband and child. For Jon as he leads our family and the youthgroup and is a leader in our church. And for my baby girl that she will grow up to love the Lord with all her heart, realize her need for Him, and live a fulfilled and joyful life serving Him and doing His will! This is our families greatest defense against the devil! The power of prayer is amazing to me! I need to pray instead of compaining or becoming discouraged or feeling sorry for myself, so that I don't grow bitter. What a gift prayer is to us; that we can have fellowship and spill out our hearts to our Heavenly Father and Creator, who in turn hears them, and changes our lives!

So far in 2011...

Christmas is over, decorations are put away, and the house is re-organized and ready for this new year! 2011 has gotten off to a crazy start so far, which is why I am just now getting around to this...blogging is pretty far down on my priority list right now!
But here is a little update on what's going on out here in the woods of Indiana and what's in store for this year!

Emmy tried cereal and some vegetables for the first time!

This is the main reason why her Mommy hasn't had a chance to blog...hehe...we like to make messes and take our time eating our food, but it's so much fun to try all these new flavors! She is going to be an eater like her Mommy and Grammy we think! ; )

Here she is enjoying her new highchair which we jokingly call "Emmy's throne" : )

Emmy is also becoming quite the active baby rolling all over the place, kicking, scooting, and waving.

Here she is waving at the camera. So cute. I think she is beginning to recognize the camera since it's always in her face these days!

It is amazing to me how fast a tiny baby can develope, grow, and change in just a few short months! It seems like everyday I'm watching her learn something new. We are thanking God for her health and that she is a thriving, happy little baby girl!

So there's the "Emmy Update"! Besides keeping up with her, we will be taking a few trips to see family in Florida and Missouri for family reunions this summer, celebrating Emmy's first birthday, doing 3 different camps with our teenagers, one in which Jon and I will be doing out here at our place in the fall, and have 19 different youth activities planned. We look so forward to seeing God continue to work in the youthgroup at Calvary and show Himself to us in mighty ways as we seek to grow closer to Him this year through all He has called us to do!

Here's to a new year!