Oh quiet time...

Madison is getting the hang of sitting up in her Bumbo chair!


My sweet summer time kiddos!




Madison loves to snuggle with that horse!

Bethany was playing with the boys at the playground, and She was totally dominating!

Each afternoon around 2 o'clock Bethany has her quiet time and Madison goes down for a nap. I usually take my quiet time to do laundry, dishes, clean up the house, and do my housewifely duties. Today I decided to have a little quiet time too. Sitting and reflecting on the last 4 months of my life, and how amazed I am at the joy I feel being a stay at home mom. Staying home was a decision that I struggled with because I enjoyed the competitive side of my job, and I really do like to work...just not where I was working....but staying home has been so amazing thus far.

I am so happy that I am able to share this summer time with Bethany and that I get to watch Madison grow and change each day. Being at work for the bulk of Bethany's 'little kid' years makes me realize how much I missed out on by working 12 hours a day. Granted not all working moms have such a crazy work schedule, but I am so thankful the Lord has positioned us to be able for me to stay home. Going down to one income was an adjustment, but one that I (most of the time) willingly adjusted the spending habits to accommodate. I have to say that I am not the best budgeter, and even though we try hard to do the Dave Ramsey deal...I still mess up more than I'd like to admit. I just really enjoy buying things for the girls and for Justin.....Shopping is fun for me, and I am good at it! But I am learning, and we are going back to our envelopes this week so we can get back on track!

I took the girls to story time at the Library this morning, I really enjoyed it and I think they did too! We are very fortunate to live in an area that has tons of childrens programs that are free or close to it. You can catch a story time 3 days a week at various locations around the burg, and can follow it up with a picnic (when the heat index isn't 116 which it is today, so we did the dollar menu at McDonalds and even though I really hate going there, they have an indoor air conditioned playground...so we went there) I love going to the library with Bethany and seeing her little face light up and get so excited to pick out her 3 books and 1 dvd! She also gets to pick 1 book for Madison and she will read it to her. The last 2 dvds that she has gotten were episodes of my old favorite, Mr. Rogers!! I really wanted to find Reading Rainbow or Wishbone, but they didn't have them...I guess that will be a youtube search!

2 At home!

It seems like a late time to post about having 2 at home all day, but our summer really just started. Bethany got home from her visit to her maternal grandma's house last week and we have been having a blast. After much prayer and worry about having a hard time getting her back in the groove, the Lord has blessed me with a very happy and well behaved 6 year old! I can tell that it is hard for her to remember the rules, and at times she almost slips up but she has been trying so hard to be good, and follow the rules. Our house is very different, and I do run a tight ship (or try to) so I know that my high expectations are not always easy for a hyper 6 year old to meet.

BUT she has been great and we have been having so much fun! We went to the library yesterday and she read to her sister. It is so cute to watch them together. Bethany is an amazing big sis and she loves her little sister. She is so helpful, and excited. Madison loves her! Every time Bethany looks at Madi her little eyes light up and she smiles her biggest smile. We have been swimming and coloring and hanging out. It has been a really sweet time so far. I want to take Bethany to do all of the fun stuff we can before school starts, and trying to do it on a budget is the hardest part.

I do commend the Mothers with more than 2 at home, especially when they are both very little. I have several friends with the 2 under 2 combo, and that scares me! When/ if we have another I would like for Madison to be at least 3 when that one comes along. I can remember waiting very impatiently for Bethany's ability to reason to kick in....I think I would have a hard time with 2 completely irrational little ones at home, but if that is the Lord's plan...we will deal.

Anyway if anyone has any summer ideas for me please let me know!! <3

Wives submit to your husbands...

Yes that's right I said the S word....submit! When I was younger and had studied this scripture less I thought it was a terrible thing to 'submit' to your husband. I took that to mean be a doormat, let him rule you, etc. But the thing is, it doesn't mean that at all. The other part of that scripture calls the husband to love his wife as Jesus loved the church...these are both impossible tasks without the holy spirit! (Ephesians 5: 21-30)

I have been reading a couple books this week that focus on being the kind of wife the Lord calls us to be. Being a Godly wife is a challenge we are all given in marriage. It is this commitment to the Lord that should convict us to not only submit to our husbands but to delight in our position as wife and mother. Now I am not saying that you let your husband make every decision for you, because I believe that it is a partnership...but in that partnership the husband has the final decision. If you come to a situation where you do not agree, ultimately he has the final say. Will this always be easy to accept? No. But Justin and I adpoted this when we first got married and I will say that we have never reached a situation where he undermined my opinion or didn't take it into consideration. We come to a consinsous and the worst thing that has happened is he says not right now, but it is very rarely a no. If your husband is loving you as he is called to then he will not abuse his 'veto power'.

Another thing I have learned is to delight in the presence of your spouse and your daily tasks, and that sometimes it is okay to 'fake it until you make it'. Meaning that there are times when you do not delight in making beds, doing laundry, and gasp....listening to ramblings concerning the loop holes in the newest xbox game. But even if you are not excited to do these things, you are called by the Lord to do so....so do them. Before you know it you will be delighting in these things. You will find your marriage in a happier place.

Please check out these 2 books! I am loving these!

1. The Good Christian Wife
2. The Politically Incorrect Wife

I Give Up!!!

Not in the negative sense of the word....but in the amazing sense of the Word. During our prep for our couples' bible study the other night, we were discussing why we find it so hard to give up our anxieties to the Lord, and why we always tend to dump these worries, cares, dreams, etc on our spouse. The answer we came up with was because our spouse is right here, and can give you an immediate tangible response. Rather than when you simply take it to the Lord (as we are called to do) and if we have the faith we are supposed to we should be able to wait on the Lord's answer. It is the waiting on the Lord's answer that I have a hard time with. I am an in the moment type person. If we/I decide to do something and I am all in, I want to do it RIGHT NOW, and I sometimes forget that my timeline is not always the Lord's timeline!

The latest thing I have been struggling with giving up to the Lord is the house buying situation. I know the Lord has a plan for our family, and Justin and I are pretty sure that involves us buying a house here in VA. One of the main reasons we want to buy a home is because the mortgage will be considerably cheaper than our rent....the house we have an offer on is a newly remodeled 5 bedroom 2 bath brick home on .58 of an acre.....it will be about 200 dollars cheaper to pay a mortgage on this house than on our 3 bedroom 2 bath apartment we live in now. Crazy right?

The whole concept of a credit score has always made me angry...okay lets be honest if you went to college and paid for expenses you were broke. If you were like Justin and I you had way too many credit cards and didn't always make the credit card payments top priority. When I graduated from college we lived in a 2 bedroom, 900 square foot condo that Justin bought in 2007. We had enough money from my salary at enterprise and his GI bill to cover the mortgage, electric bill, Bethany's daycare, and not much else. So long story short our credit score was less than stellar when we moved to VA. Thanks to Dave Ramsey's plan we were able to pay off all of our credit cards and debts, except for student loans and the car note. We have rebuilt our credit scores and should be good to go. But not so fast.....even with his salary and our new credit scores and the VA loan program we are still having to stress about getting approval for our mortgage! So frustrating! Please say a little prayer for me as I need all the help I can get in giving up this situation to the Man Upstairs!

So I Give Up! If we are supposed to get this house we will, end of story. Thank you Jesus for all the blessings you have given us, and continue to bless us with each day!

Busy Busy Busy

So many things have been going on since our trip to Texas, it's hard for me to even begin! So I guess I'll start from the beginning! Madison and I got home on Saturday June 25th from Texas, and got to spend the night and all day Sunday with Justin. Monday morning Justin left for a work trip to West Virginia, and Madison and I stayed home. Sunday evening she started running a fever, so I attributed it to the travel, gave her some Tylenol and decided to monitor her temp closely. Monday she was still running hot, so I called the pediatrician and she said it was most likely from the trip and to give her more Tylenol and watch closely. Tuesday she was still running a fever so off to the doc we went. After her exam the doc said the same as she said Monday and sent us home. Tuesday and Wednesday we viewed some homes with our real estate agent...

Wednesday I decided to make an offer on one of the houses that Madi and I looked at, with out Justin seeing it in person!

Thursday we were back at the doctor, and this time she did a ton of tests. After being sent all over town to get blood drawn and antibiotics administered we went home...only to be sent to the hospital that night! Yes, she was admitted to the hospital again!! I was terrified, Justin was in West Virginia, and Justin's mom and grandma were flying in that evening at 4:45 for a visit....we were supposed to go into the city to get them.

Madison and I got to the hospital around 5, Jean and Grandma Anne rented a car, and Justin was on his way home from WV. Everyone made it to the hospital before 10pm.....Still no answers on what was wrong with Madi, but they were pretty sure it was a UTI or Kidney infection.

Friday morning we found out that our offer was accepted!!! We are now under contract! woohoo!

Friday night they did an ultrasound on Madison's kidneys, bladder, lungs, and heart....all checked out fine! At this point we were waiting on the blood and urine cultures to produce their results. All the while she was getting IV antibiotics and had no fever since 4 am Friday.

Spent all day Saturday in the hospital and were discharged Sunday around 11am with antibiotics....it was in fact a UTI. Now we will go in next week for more tests to find out why she has had 2 of them in her short life. If it is kidney reflux the Dr says most babies grow out of it quickly, and if not there is a nonsurgical way to correct it!

It has been a whirlwind for sure but we are just so happy to have her home!! Bethany is still in Texas, and we cannot wait for her to get home!!!

If you ask me what I like about Texas....

I'd say I don't like anything but I LOVE everything! Being home and getting to stay for an extended visit is such a blessing! We have been going all over the place to visit friends and family, and I have been loving being home! We got here on the 3rd and have been having a non stop fun filled adventure ever since. Madison has been doing great with all the time spent in the car and motor home, and she even went to the lake for the first time! I cannot even express how amazing this visit has been. I wish Justin could be here with us, but am so thankful that his hard work is allowing for us to be here. My parents rolled out the red carpet for their girls, and supplied Madison with everything a 2 month old could ever need or want. She loves their dogs and they are obsessed with her. The horses are so curious about this tiny human that has arrived, and she seems just as interested in the giant puppy dogs that live in the barn. We started our visit with my sweet sorority sister's wedding in Austin, and that was such a blast! It was so much fun to see all of my college girlfriends and for them to get to meet Madison. Then we had Karen out for a sleepover complete with playing tourist in downtown Fredericksburg (yes...my parents live in Fredericksburg Texas and we live in Fredericksburg VA) We went up to Weatherford for one of my best friend's baby showers on Saturday, and then we left for Canyon lake on Sunday and got back from the lake yesterday. The first day I worked horses I pulled a muscle in my back, and it is still messed up....really a bummer since I wanted to spend the bulk of my days in Texas horse back...hopefully it will get better in the next couple days and I can ride a lot next week. Madison will go to her first cutting this weekend, and I can't wait for our extended horse show family to meet her. I know all of her 'grandmas and great grandmas' will love fussing over her. Bethany is about 12 days into her visit with her Maternal grandma and mom, and seems to be doing okay. My Mom and I took her to lunch yesterday and she wanted to come out to the ranch to swim and ride horses. She is a little homesick for her Dad and I so we have been calling everyday to make sure she knows we miss her too. I know I am leaving a ton out from the visit and I will post photos soon.

Have a great day!!

Family of 4??

I am sitting here procrastinating packing. Things are very different now than they were just a few short years ago. I used to go away almost every weekend and wouldn't think twice about packing until a few hours before I was leaving. Throw my stuff in the bag and out the door I would go. Now I have an entire day where my whole plan is to pack! I just dropped Bethany off for her next to last day of kindergarten and I have so much organizing and packing to do. It would be one thing if we were just going for a few days but Bethany will be gone for over a month, and Madison and I will be in Texas for about 2.5 weeks! And since we are flying I have to get everything into 2.5 suitcases. The entire living room is clothes and stuff right now. I have to pack clothes, diapers, wipes, toiletries, shoes, swimsuits, gear for the baby, clothes for me, toys, dvd player for the plane, things to entertain Bethany on the plane, clothes and shoes and supplies for Bethany for a month, Justin's stuff (why I am packing for him is a long story), things for overnight in another bag that will stay in the car so we don't mess up our suitcases before the trip even begins. You get the idea, it's a mess. But I am so excited for our first trip as a family of 4! I can't believe it is finally here, and I am so excited to get to Texas to see the family and all of my amazing friends! Thankfully my parents are amazing and are lightening my load by getting baby stuff to keep in Texas, so I dont have to haul the pack n play, and all of the other zillion baby items that Madison loves to play in. I hate that Bethany is going to be away from us for a whole month, but that is just the way it is. And I know she will have a blast with her other grandparents, and I hope everything goes well and drama free.

This weekend I get to watch one of my amazing sorority sisters marry the man of her dreams and next weekend I get to celebrate another new life coming into our extended horse show family at Mica's baby shower! I am so happy that I get to be there for my friends for these sweet moments in their lives! T-minus 36 hours until the trip begins!