It's Confession Time Again

So, my blogging has been a bit, uh, nonexistent since we moved here to Alberta.  That has been for many reasons.  We've been busy.  We've been adjusting to a new church, new places, new everything.  We love living here.  We love our new church.  We love the town. We love the area.  But there was one thing we haven't loved.  And I need to confess.  I've had a very bad attitude about it.  Let me explain.

When we left New Brunswick, we knew the church we were going to, but beyond that, we didn't know much more.  We were still taking a step of faith.  Our home there had not yet sold.  But we knew this was what God had for us, so we knew He had a plan.  Well, wouldn't you know that just a few hours down the road after we left, we got a call from our realtor and we had an offer on the house!  But, it was not enough to cover a down payment on a new house, so we knew we would be renting for a while.  We had a house we were planning to rent for at least 6 months.

After 8 days of travel we arrived in Ponoka and went to our rental.  I knew it wasn't going to be the Plaza or anything.  Some people in the church had seen it and told us it was in need of a good scrubbing.  The house came furnished if we wanted it to be.  Well, we walked in and my heart dropped a little.

It was quite dirty.  It smelled.  The furniture that was there was not much of what I would want to use.  And there was junk everywhere.  We went down to the basement and saw even worse.  The carpet was ripped and stained all over the place.  Dog hair and, um, "droppings"  were on floor too.  It was even more stinky than upstairs.  We walked into one of the rooms and my mouth dropped open.  It was floor to ceiling, all four walls covered in black chalkboard paint. And that was covered in all kinds of inappropriate phrases, words and drawings.  We immediately had the kids leave as we did not want Liam reading any of it.  There were symbols that I'm to sure what all they mean, but don't want to.  It was awful.

I was very disappointed, but knew we had no other option so I would just have to deal with it.  So we did.  We had a deal with the landlord that we would paint the interior of the house if she would drop the monthly rent by $300.  So, we obviously knew which room to do first.  Now, let me tell you, if you ever get the notion to paint a WHOLE room with chalkboard paint, DON'T DO IT!  It is very, very hard to paint over.  And you have to use oil based paint.  And you have to sand it first.  It took Matt several days to do that one small room.  And oil based paint is very potent in the fumes department.

So, that was the house when we moved in.  But more than that, the next few months were not the best experience house wise for us.  There was a lot wrong with the house, and our landlord didn't do much about it.  In truth, I don't think she had much experience as a landlord, and she now lives out of town, so I don't think she really had much of an idea as to what she needed to do.  But I had a bad attitude about it all.

I had a bad attitude that we had to clean the house, and the carpet when we moved in (And when we moved out).  I had a bad attitude when she just told us the dishwasher didn't work, that the back door  was broken, but didn't do anything to fix it.  I had a bad attitude when we agreed to store all her things for her, so we couldn't use any of the storage space or the garage for our things.  I had a bad attitude that several windows were broken, and that the kids' room in the basement had a mildew smell that just kept getting worse and worse.

But I think the straw that broke the camels back was last month.  We had a major rainstorm with very strong winds.  So strong, that the next day, we realized one of the already sickly trees had cracked and one part of it was laying on the house, right over the front door and ready to completely fall to the ground at the next big gust of wind.  We texted her and sent her pictures asking what she wanted us to do.  Her answer? "I don't have any money, so just leave it."  Um, no.  Wrong answer.  My children, along with about 10 other neighbourhood children play in our front yard each and every day.  It is not safe to just leave and that would not be an option. 

I got quite upset, but Matt handled it well, much better than me.  He told her that if she gave him written permission to take care of it and that she would not hold us liable for any possible damage to the house, then he would see to it.  She gave him permission and he called a few men from church and they came with ropes and chainsaws, etc. and cut the whole tree down.  I was so relieved that it was taken care of, but still really irritated that she didn't seem to care about our safety.

That happened on a Thursday evening.  On Saturday morning, one of those men came back to finish cleaning up all the debris.  I was so thankful that we had such willing and ready helpers in the church.  And talented people....

Later the next week, Matt came home from church with a gift for us.  It was a bowl.  Not just any bowl, but a wooden bowl.  Made from the tree that was taken down from our house.  Its a beautiful bowl that will have a great function.  And the Lord has used it to teach me a lesson.

Sometimes we have frustrating and difficult circumstances in our lives.  Whether it be a work situation, a family issue, or a landlord thing.  It can be upsetting, frustrating, difficult or just plain unfair.  It can make absolutely no sense to us.  It can be devastating.  But in all that, in all the trial and turmoil, the tears, fears, and frustrations, God can and will, if we are willing, take that "bad" thing and turn it into something beautiful and useful. 

Like my bowl.  It was a weak, old tree, that wasn't much use for anything but blocking our view from one of the rooms.  But it is now turned into a gorgeous bowl useful for a number of things.

Now, although we had a frustrating 6 months, God has allowed us to make good friendships with the neighbours in that neighbourhood, especially our kids.  God knew our kids needed to make friends their ages to help the transition.  God knew I needed that.

And now, as of last Saturday, we are moved into a beautiful home.  One that is TONS nicer and a much better layout for us.  One that we are renting until January, then going to buy (more on that in another post).  One that we LOVE.  One that is beautiful and definitely fully functional.

So now, I keep that bowl out on my counter top so that I see it - often.  It is a constant reminder to me that something beautiful can come out of something not so beautiful.  That God can and will make something beautiful out of the hard circumstances in life.

So I confess.  I have had a bad attitude.  But I am trying to do much better.  God has made sure to remind me of that.

Until next time...

I've Got A Confession

I've been a "bad" mom lately.  I've been very frustrated with my children.  I've lost my temper.  I have raised my voice way above where I would ever want to admit.  I've wanted to scream.  I've just up and walked out of a room where they all were and told them that I will come back a little later.  I've had a hard time with the parenting thing, these past few weeks.

Maybe its because it is still so cold outside that we are stuck indoors a large part of the time.  Maybe it is because we are all still adjusting to a new place.  Maybe it is because our sweet 14 month old still does not sleep for more than 4 hours at a time.  Which makes this one exhausted momma. And the incessant whining, bickering, and fighting from the other three is getting to me. Maybe it is just because I'm a sinner, my children are sinners, and we are all trying to live in the same house, sinning together.  Whatever the excuse I could throw at you won't change the fact that I have just plain been struggling.  I've had to apologize to my children for how I have been.  I've been irritated with myself for my struggling.

But God brought me a great reminder this morning, oddly enough, through Facebook.  I got up this morning, and sat with my kids as they were watching Doc McStuffins.  I had my iPad and was browsing through Facebook "just to see what was happening in the world."  And that's when I saw a post from one of our friends.  They had commented on a page of some couple who were announcing that their precious, nearly 1 month old baby, was now home with Jesus.  Immediately my eyes were filled with tears and I was ashamed.

From what I can gather, this baby girl was this couple's first child.  And due to complications (placental abruption, I believe) the baby at birth had gone 9 minutes without a heartbeat or oxygen.  She was revived, but had brain injuries.  She was kept alive for about 20 days, but last night, God took her home.  The post said that she was in the arms of her mommy and daddy when she left this world.

My heart aches for this couple.  Even now I can barely type because of the tears in my eyes. I do not know this couple, probably never will.  But the pain and ache I feel for them is nothing compared to what they must be feeling.  I have been lifting them up to God in prayer ever since I saw that post.  Praying for strength and comfort.  For acceptance and growth spiritually.

It was through this post that God touched my heart and reminded me to take a step back, look around, and be thankful.  Be thankful that I am surrounded by 4 beautiful children who are healthy.  Be thankful that I can look into the bright blue eyes of all 4 of them and tell them, "I Love You!"  Be thankful that I can pick them up, squeeze them tight and kiss their soft cheeks.  Be thankful that I can smile at them, and receive a huge smile in return.  Be thankful.  To just be thankful.

Then God reminded me of this post I read a few weeks ago.  This sweet mom has a precious daughter with many health problems.  Her daughter is completely dependent upon her parents for everything.  They can't carry on a conversation with her.  They can't enjoy the experience of their child running and jumping into their arms.  They can't experience all the "normal" childhood stages like others.  And yet, she has a very positive attitude about it all.  Oh, I know she probably has her bad days, but still, this post made me, again, stop and be thankful.

So why am I writing all this?  Its not because I want any sympathy or whatever.  I am writing this for a reminder for myself.  To be thankful.  I have been struggling lately.  I am exhausted.  I sometimes do feel like screaming.  And all those feelings will come and go, off and on, over our parenting experience.  But I want to remind myself that, yes, I will struggle.  But when I do, try to remember to stop, pause, and thankful God for His blessings.  To hug and kiss my children as often as possible.  To play with them.  To sit  down and talk with them.  To listen to them.  To spend time with them.

And to pray for those who are aching for children gone on whom cannot do any of those things with here on earth.

Until next time....

What's Been Happening You Ask?

Well, a little of this and a little of that.  Its funny.  I love to blog and am almost constantly "blogging in my head" but to actually find the time to sit down and actually do it is another thing.  It's terrible, too, because there are so many things that happen and go on that I want to record (which is the main purpose of this blog), so I feel as if I am letting things slip by that I will one day wish I had written down!  I am really going to try to do better for sure!  For my own sake! (aren't I selfish! :-) )

So anyways, on to what's been going on.  We have been busy with our lives here in Alberta.  Church is going well - Matt's busy with youth group and the young families.  This past Sunday we started a new Sunday school class for young families and had 9 come out for it.  We are excited because that is more than we were expecting!

I had a birthday a few weeks ago.  The big 31!  Whoa!  When did that happen?  I tell people in my mind I am still about 21 years old.  Then I realize how tired and sleepy I am and remember that I am no longer in my 20's.  Bummer.

For my birthday, Matt took me away for a night in the mountains.  We stayed in a resort "hotel" type thing and it was beautiful.  We had a suite that was absolutely beautiful!  It had a full kitchen, two bathrooms, two bedrooms, a fireplace, and washer/dryer.  Very cool.  Definitely will be going back to that place again!  It was a nice relaxing day/night and was nice to have a night off of "mommy duties."  Some friends from the church here stayed with the kids and they did great.  Except Lexi kept them up a bit at night.  But that is nothing new!

The kids are good.  Mostly healthy, for now.  Libby and Lexi are fighting colds, but nothing too terrible.  Liam and Leila are still plugging away at school.  We aren't taking any more days off (at least not planned ones) in order to finish the first week of June.  I am NOT a fan of school way into summer.  I need the break and I think the kids really need it too.  They need to just be kids and go outside and play (if it ever gets warm and stays warm!).

The weather hasn't been too bad.  We seem to hover around 30-40 degrees during the day and go below freezing at night.  We did get several inches of snow over the weekend.  I love winter but I have to admit, I am starting to crave some warmth a little bit.  And playing at the park.  We have one just around the corner from us, but have only gone once since its not that fun when most everything is covered halfway or more in snow.

Some other things that have been going on will be easier to explain through pictures.  Here we go....

Lexi is learning to drive...

For Duct Tape night at youth, Matt made this handbag out of duct tape...

We are all enjoying the comfy new recliner we got on clearance....

We've been sporting our new Calgary Flames shirts...

We played in the snow at church Family day....

 Some of us like to get into Mommy's baking supplies and eat chocolate squares...

Sometimes we get some wildlife visitors down our street...

Matt, Libby, Uncle Sean, and Cousin Charlie went to 

West Edmonton Mall (similar to Mall of America) while rest of us were home sick...

This is a hurricane machine

Do you think they have enough tickets?

Watching the penguins (the animals, not the hockey team.  Ha!)!

Matt and I got a picture of ourselves - first one in, well, a long time! 

I got to see the BEAUTIFUL Rockies! I love me some mountains!

 Liam had a few lines in a kids program at church.  He did great!

 Leila learned how to take pictures on my iPad.

Batman, Spiderman, and a Storm Trooper(I think?) came to dwell with us.

On nice days we go outside and play with the neighbor kids....

 Libby likes to eat spoonfuls of sugar....

And draw on herself with blue marker during the night...

So, yes.  We are busy.  But having a great time!

Until next time....

Romatic Ideals

Well, tomorrow is Valentine's Day.  The "Day of Love."  Or, for us this year, "Duct Tape Day" (we have youth group on Thursday nights and this week is everything duct tape.  Its lots of fun!).  And in case you are wondering, yes, Matt is going to youth group on Valentine's Day and I will be home with the kids.  And yes, I am totally okay with that.  Seriously.  There may have been a time in my life when I would have thought that was terrible - not spending Valentine's evening with your special someone.  Which leads me to the purpose of this post - how my ideals of romance have changed over the years.

When I was in high school, I would spend ample amounts of time talking with my sister, friends, and even my parents about what I thought was romantic, or what I wanted my husband to do/be like.  I would daydream about cold winter nights - bundled up under a blanket in an open carriage ride looking at the gleaming Christmas lights in the falling snow. My guy would be there, whispering all the sweet things people whisper about on carriage rides.  I dreamed about getting engaged in a hot air balloon (really, I did!) overlooking the beautiful Colorado Rocky Mountains.  I dreamed about breakfast in bed every Saturday, long walks in the evenings holding hands, my man always saying things like, "my life only began when I first met you!" and other silly things like that.  I dreamed about cuddling up on the couch watching Pride and Prejudice (cuz we all know every guy LOVES to watch all 6 hours of that one!).  I would imagine that once I was married we would wake up every morning (with smiles on our faces, minty fresh breath, hair perfectly in place and no sleep crusties in our eyes, mind you) and snuggle a good 10 minutes before getting up to start the day.  I would dream, plan, and dream some more.

Those things are all romantic, and nice, but its not what gets my attention anymore.  Instead, its the offers to let me go rest and take a nap when I am tired.  Its the doing the dishes so I don't have to.  Its the, "I'll be in charge of supper tonight." Its the changing the poopy diapers.  Its the playing with our children and making them giggle with delight.  Its the look across the dining room table that says, "We are so blessed."  Its the working together to train our children to do what is right.  Its the reading a Bible story and singing together as a family each night before bed.  Its the praying together as a couple.  Its the hugging and crying together when our hearts are burdened and we want to be there for each other.  Its the random texts that just say, "I love you."  These things are my idea of romance.

You see, I used to think romance was just all the things my husband would do for me.  But now, I realize it is more than that, its also the things he does with me.  Oh, yes, I do love the surprises and things he does just for me.  But more so I love the things we do together.  The family we have created together.  The life we have together.  The love that we have grown together. Together.  I love being together.  I love learning more about God, ourselves and life together.  That's what is romantic to me.

It was Valentine's Day, 9 years ago that Matt and I had our first "official" date.  I was excited and a little nervous.  But in looking back, I somehow knew from even that early stage that this was the guy for me, the one I wanted to be with.  It was never a doubt.  I am so thankful for my husband and the life and love we have grown since that time.  We haven't had the perfect life.  We both have made mistakes, we both have learned a lot.  God has taught us so much by bringing us through some trials.  But I am so thankful for the man I have had at my side through it all.  I truly did marry my sweetheart, the love of my life.

So, this Valentine's Day, I am thinking on all the things my special someone and I get to do together - every day.  That is so much better than any of the things I used to always think about.  Because it is real.  So, my ideals of romance have changed.  And I am glad.

Thank you, Matt, for loving me, for marrying me, and helping me see what is really, truly romantic.  I love you.  Happy Valentine's Day!

I'm Back!

So, is anyone still out there?  It's been a while, huh?  Well, I'm hopefully back for good, now!  Let me see if I can bring you up to speed on our lives lately.  Here we go!

- Obviously, we made It safely to Alberta, our new home.  The trip here was, well, long!  It took us a total of eight days to get here - seven of those actually on the road.  Our sixth day we got to Manitoba  at our friends, Rob and Lena's house.  They actually had just moved there from New Brunswick just a few months before.  You know you're good friends when they let your family of six stay with you in your new house the day after you moved in!  They have three kids the same ages as our three youngest and it was so nice to see them.  We decided to stay an extra night and day to just have a break from the road.  I think the kids needed it and they loved being out of the car and playing with their friends.  It worked out nicely as it turns out I got one of my really bad headaches that day.  You know, the kind where I can only lay down in a quiet, dark room with my eyes covered in order to get rid of it.  That would have been miserable to deal with in the car!

- We got here on Wednesday, December 5, around 3:30 in the afternoon.  We stopped by the house we are renting to see it for the first time, and then headed over to the church building.  The kids were able to meet the pastor and his wife and the secretary and see the building.  Then we headed out to some church members house where we stayed for the next three days.

-  We didn't stay at "our" house for a few days because it, we'll, it needed a good cleaning.  It basically needed a GOOD scrubbing from top to bottom.  Ad I didn't want to stay there with Lexi crawling all around before we could clean the carpets.  So a sweet couple was kind enough to take us in.

- The Friday after we got there, a bunch of ladies met us at the house and we cleaned and cleaned.  What a blessing that was!  There was even a mom in the church who offered to watch our kids for us so we wouldn't have to worry about them.  The neat thing is that her good friend who has four young kids lives right across the street from us, and they both watched our kids there so they kids were close to me and they got to meet and play with the neighbour kids.  They loved that.

- Exactly one week after we got here, the moving truck arrived with our things.  That was an exciting day!  And overwhelming. Remember all that packing I did?  Well now I had to UN - pack everything!  I'm still not totally done, but the most Important things are done.

- We love, love, love our church.  They have welcomed us with open arms.  We have been invited over to their homes, given furniture (remember how I sold most of our other furniture?), and truly felt welcomed.  They had a special welcome fellowship for us, and took up an offering to help us with the settling in expenses.  Let me just say the amount blew us off our feet.  On top of that, we have been given beef to fill our freezer, jams, and so much other goodies to fill our pantry.  This church body has been so giving.  The kids got more Christmas gifts than they even needed, as well.  We are truly humbled by their generosity.

- After only being here for a little over two weeks, we took off again on another road trip.  Apparently we thought we hadn't had enough of the car.  But actually, we drove 20 hours south to surprise my family for Christmas.  All along we were telling them we didn't think we were going to be able to come.  But, due in part to the extreme generosity of the church people, we were able to go, we just didn't tell anyone. (In case you didn't know, my side of the family tries to get together every other year for Christmas).  So, we drove through the big ole state of Montana, and then Wyoming and finally Colorado.  We took two days to do this.  We got there around four in the afternoon, on December 21.  I had been praying the whole time that God would work it our that we could totally catch my parents off guard.  S when we pulled on their street, and saw my parents going to their neighbours to deliver some goodies, I new it wasn't going to be as fun to yell "surprise!"

But, God knew what my hearts desire was and my parents didn't notice us - even though my mom looked RIGHT at our van!  S the went around the corner to the neighbours door.  We quickly jumped out of the car, telling the kids to be quiet.  We all stood in a line in the driveway.  My dad came around the corner first and just stopped in his tracks, staring at us - not saying a word.  My mom came right behind him, almost ran into him, then looked up at us.  We all together yelled, "Merry Christmas!"  Well, my mom's mouth dropped to the ground almost, she started to cry, and said, "What are you doing here?" We then all started hugging and laughing and it was great!  My brother Jeremy and his family were there as well.  They must have heard the commotion as they all came out of the house and we all hugged and such.  The surprise couldn't have gone better.  It was awesome!

- We spent 10 days in Colorado and it was great to be with my family.  I hadn't seen my brother's Kip and Jeremy and their families for two years - since the last time we were out there.  And they hadn't meet Lexi yet.  So it was really nice to see them.  We had a great Christmas, complete with kids getting that awful stomach virus.  One night my sis-in-law Jenni and I were up all night with kids who were throwing up every few minutes.  Thankfully, though, Lexi didn't get it.  Its so much worse the younger they are.  And that virus is pretty bad.  Be thankful if it hasn't reached your household!

- Once we got back to Alberta, it was time to resume life and get on with our new normal.  Matt officially started at church, we started back up to school (we are still a bit behind, but we have an good excuse - at least I think so), and life has sorta slowed down.  We have been sort of in a state of limbo the past 5 months since July, so it is nice to have some normalcy again.

- We are loving living here.  I love the town, I love the church.  I'm thankful for the home we are able to rent and we are very happy here.  It was a hard transition - this past year was not one I would necessarily want to repeat.  But God showed Himself so real in so many ways.  He took care of us in ways I could never have imagined.  Honestly, we have been without an official paycheck since the end of July.  We still won't get one for another two weeks.  But we have not gone in want for anything.  If anything, we have had more than we ever have in our married life.  And that is all attributed to our awesome, incredible, and loving God.

So, I suppose that, in a somewhat large nutshell, fills you in on us.  It feels good to be back to blogging, although I really haven't had the time or energy (yes, it takes energy to blog) to sit at the computer lately. But I'm back, so stay tuned to hear all about our new adventures in our new lives!

Until next time...

Yesterday We.....

Woke up to snow.

So we had to go out and play in it!

And make our first snow angel, of course.

When we got cold, we came in to play.  Doesn't Lexi look thrilled!

 

 Then we jumped around on the mattress on the floor.

And fell down a lot, too.

We posed for some sweet pics with our cousins.

And were being a little silly, too.

All in all, we had a fun filled day!

Daddy comes home today.  Yay!

Until next time......

Good Video

Matt showed me this video the other day, and I thought I would share it with you all.  It is, in my opinion, quite powerful and reminds us of many things regarding God and the Bible that I think we often forget.  It is a little over 11 minutes long, but please take the time to watch it.  I think you will be glad you did.

Until next time....

To Marriage and Beyond

(This a continuation of ongoing posts  I have telling all about Our Story. I believe I last talked about our engagement and wedding day.)

We had a beautiful wedding, at least in my opinion.  Pretty much everything went just as we planned and before we knew it we were running to a limo through the line of our guests throwing rose petals at us and off we went on our honeymoon.  We spent the next two weeks traveling from Oklahoma where we were married up to New Brunswick.  We spent the first week in Gatlinburg, TN.  We had our van so we were able to just leisurely take our time heading up to Canada.  Once we arrived in New Brunswick, we began preparing to head up North to Nemeska, Quebec, to run the Bible camp that Matt had run the past few years.

The month of July was spent way up North at the small camp ministering to many Cree children and their families.  It was wonderful!  I can remember feeling like I was in a dream.  I was married to a wonderful man, and now we were serving the Lord together.  Exactly what I had been praying for all those years!  I loved watching my husband teach with such passion, just as he continues to teaches with today.  Each day I fell more in love with him.  We had some special times up there.  I especially remember the final night we were there.  The kids were all tucked away in their cabins, and we were getting ready to head to our place for the night. We stopped outside before getting into the car and just stood there, starting up at the magnificent sky.  The camp had no electricity or running water.  It was rustic.  But because of that, the night sky was so clear.  And were were far enough north that we were able to clearly see the Northern Lights.  I had never seen them before and let me tell you - they left me breathles.  Absolutely incredible!  Just another reminder of what an awesome  God we serve - who created such beauty!

Once the four weeks of camp were over, we had to pack up, head back to New Brunswick where we packed up all our belongings there and headed out on the road again.  We had only a few short weeks before we needed to be back in Florida for Matt to start grad school and I was to start working on staff at the Bible college.  But, on our "way" (and by that I mean not on the way at all) we went to Ohio to help my brother and his wife move into their home.  They were beginning a job at a Christian school.  Then we drove down to Oklahoma to visit my parents and pick up the rest of our stuff.  After that, we finally arrived at our final destination, Pensacola, Florida.  To say we put a lot of miles on the first three months of our marriage is an understatement.

But it was great.  It gave us lots of time to just talk and enjoy each other.  But, "real" life had to start sometime so we got to Florida, got settled in and started our life as a newly married couple.  Matt was in grad school as well as working for the school to pay for his schooling.  I was staff and worked in the Dean's office at the college.  I have always loved secretarial type work, which is what I was doing.  There were times when I wasn't so fond of my job, but overall, it was great.  I would work, 8 to 5, then come home to our small apartment and cook, clean, and enjoy my hubby.  I have to admit, at first it seemed a bit surreal and I often felt like I was just a little girl playing "house."  But no, it was real, I was "all grown up" and we were so happy!

When we weren't working we were hanging out with friends and just enjoying life.  Matt worked on Tuesday nights, so my sister and my friend, Jana, would almost always come over to keep me company.  We would play games or go into town.  Or Matt and I would hang out our friends, Brad and Miranda, or Matt and Sheila.  When it was the end of the month and money was tight, Brad, Mirand, and Matt and I would pool our resources and come up with meals so we could all eat!  Great memories.  It was some good times.  Everything was going the way I "planned" it.  I had always wanted to get married, be just us two for two years, then we would start a family.  And then every two years we would add to the family until we had 5 or 6 kids.

Well, as you know "things" don't always go as you plan.  We had been married for not quite 6 months when I had a "feeling" that I was pregnant.  I told Matt, we went to get a test (at about midnight, mind you.  There were so many people we might see since the college had over 4,000 students and lots of staff and faculty that I wanted to keep it a secret in case I was wrong! Ha!)  I couldn't wait until morning like you are "supposed" to do.  Took the test, it was positive.  We were shocked and ecstatic at the same time!  We called our parents and everyone joined in on our joy.

It is kinda interesting to note that while I was pregnant, so were my three sis-in-laws!  It also happened that we were all pregnant at the same time again the next time around, too!  Ah.... families! :-)

The pregnancy went well, and I gave birth on my exact due date and we welcomed sweet Liam into our family.  I took three months maternity leave - the most I could.  In the states, you do not get paid mat leave and it is not for a year like here in Canada!  Those three months with just Matt working on a  small income were tough.  Actually, I look back and still have no idea how we survived on just over $500 a month.  Except that God provided.  Always does.  Always will.

Once I had to start back to work Liam went to daycare.  But, it was the daycare associated with the college and I knew a lot of the workers. I could see the building from my office window and could go over during the day to nurse him and eat my lunch there - which I did most every day.  So it was pretty ideal since I had to work. (Most all Matt's paycheck went to pay off his schooling, so we had no choice but for me to work.)  It wasn't my favorite thing, but again, we made it through!

We now were not only adjusting to married life, but we were also adjusting to being parents!  No, it wasn't how I had planned it, but I wouldn't go back and change any of it for anything!  Those times really set the stage for our life together and taught us many things about who God is.

It was now the beginning of 2007.  We had been married for a year and a half, Matt was almost done with grad school, and the future lay before us.  What were we going to do?  Where were we going to go?  We had our plans.  Grand and glorious plans.  But we would soon find that God had a different plan for us.

Until next time....

Progression of a Family

In honor of our 7th anniversary tomorrow, I thought I would show our "progress" over the years through pictures!  Enjoy!

It all started with an "official"  date. February 2004.

And then we got engaged. October 2004

We got married! June 2005

Honeymoon! June 2005

Then we had our buddy - Liam. September 2006

Sweet Leila-girl joined us in June 2008.

Then enters Libby-cakes.  January 2010

And finally, we added our baby, little Lexi-bug.  January 2012

 Its been 7 wonderful years full of more blessings than we can count. 

(And some hardships, too.)  

God is truly so, so good. 

 Here's to the next 7!

Until next time.....
(Tune in tomorrow as I continue telling more of "Our Story")