Jer 29:11

Jett's bedtime story

2011-12-03T06:11:00.001-08:00

Pastor's Wife

2011-11-26T18:43:00.000-08:00

So Jake has just recently taken a position as Lead Pastor of a small church in a small town. It's all surreal. My life has always consisted of the "city-life"...now, don't get me wrong...I don't come from a "city" by any means. But here's my point: Frederick=250,000 people within 20 miles; Port St Joe=3,500 within 20 miles. Yeah...

Positives of my small town:

There's no traffic

It's beautiful

It's warm

The beach is 5 minutes away

Let's stick with the positives. God is clearly moving here and I'm thrilled to be a part of it!

2010-07-22T05:53:00.001-07:00

Halee turned 5 last month, Jett turned 2 today, Karis will be 4 in Jan...my kids are getting too big!!

My girls...

2010-03-31T10:37:00.000-07:00

This morning when the kids and I were playing Just Dance on the Wii the power went out!!
Halee: "Oh no! The power went out because we were dancing too hard!"

It's a beautiful day here, anyone would be crazy to have their windows up - NOT enjoying this amazing weather, but...
Karis: "Oh mommy, put the windows up, that's cow poop outside!"

Tastefully Simple

2010-03-01T13:40:00.001-08:00

I thought I would email you all let you know about a fun new endeavor I've taken on. I'm doing it for fun and for the food :-) I'm a consultant for a company named Tastefully Simple, I do food parties! (It's very similar to a Pampered Chef except it's food) There are also places on the website where you can buy the spices, soups, jams, desserts, mixes, sauces...etc. Anyway, I'm really excited and wanted to share it with you!

After I quit Starbucks I needed something to do for fun, but also something that would get me out of the house - meeting new people and making people happy! I went to my first party (and I did not want to!!!), but it was so much fun. We ate different foods the whole time! All the products are super easy to make, with only one or two added ingredients needed, plus they are all natural (which I love!). www.tastefullysimple.com/web/bwhicker Check it out!

Thanks for your support and prayers through this, I'm very excited about the yummy food and fun parties ahead!

WAKE UP!

2010-02-01T11:44:00.001-08:00

Oh I get so mad at Christians.

Love people. No matter who they are, what they wear, who they voted for, what job they have or don't have, how they pay for their groceries, where they live, what they have done, who their friends are...I don't care what excuses there are, I don't really care. Love people. I'm so stinkin tired of typical Christians living this "la dee da" life, thinking they are so much better than others because of whatever CRAP reason. You're not better. I'm not better. Wake up! If you're life is comfortable, it's probably because you're not putting yourself out there for God. You should have some uncomfortable relationships, some uncomfortable financial situations, some uncomfortable decisions. Because then we're reaching out to those who need Christ, because then we're on our knees to God daily, because then we realize that this life is not our own.

Working/Stay at Home Mom

2010-01-20T07:38:00.000-08:00

You know, I think I got a lot of heat for going back to work almost 15 months ago. Maybe it was behind my back, maybe it was to my face...but either way, I don't really care. It was perfect for our family! I love it! I love my job! I love the people! I love making people happy! I just love it!

But it doesn't just happen without sacrifice and some stress, but then again when isn't there a little of that anyway. I absolutely believe 110% that God placed me at MY starbucks for a reason. And I love it!

I have a lot of respect for women that work outside the home full-time and then come back home and complete all their needed home-duties. It is a lot of responsibility. Like my friend Katie, this lady has it all together...well maybe not all together, hehe! But she is such a hard worker. She goes into work at 4pm and works til 1am, comes home-puts a load of laundry in maybe then goes to bed, wakes up at 8am, feeds her husband and 2 little girls, takes her daughter to pre-k, plays with her younger daughter (as well as any housework, laundry, paying bills...etc), picks her older daughter up 3 hrs later, makes lunch, takes a short nap, gets up and leaves for work at 330pm then does it all over again 5 days a week. I mean WOW!

You know, I believe that when someone stays at home to be with the kids, it takes sacrifice. No matter what type-finances, time, energy. But honestly, I also believe not everyone is able to stay at home due to whatever reason. Kudos to those working moms and wives out there!! I pray for you!

That being said, I have just put in my 2 weeks at Starbucks. My last day will be January 30th. It is bittersweet really. It's only been 15 months, but it's been a wonderful 15 months. I have made relationships with my coworkers and customers that I would never have been able to make. I have stretched and strengthened my faith in ways that I have never even imagined doing. I have enjoyed the conversations, both meaningful and maybe even a little meaningless. I have poured my heart out to strangers and they have poured their heart out to me, it is wonderful. I have not said a word when someone's cousin, dad or friend passed away, just listened. I have given and received hugs, love and encouragement from wonderful believers and unbelievers who (some) people would be timid to even look at in the eyes. I am incredibly blessed. Thank you Jesus. Thank you.

I sit here with tears in my eyes and maybe even one slipped down my face, because these people, who maybe are still strangers or just acquaitances or maybe more like friends, say they will miss me dearly but are truly happy that I'm able to go back to being a stay at home mom. I am so blessed.

I am so blessed because Jake cares. He wants me to do what will be less stressful for me, he wants me to be happy, he wants me to be healthy, he wants me to be able to be who God made me to be.

So, as of Monday Feb. 1st - that will be my official first day of my life back to being a stay at home mom. We will plan on waking up in the mornings, eating breakfast, having an activity time, reading books, enjoying eachother, then have lunch, take Halee to pre-k from 115-345, Karis, Jett and mommy will take a nap, or I will do some cleaning, then pick Halee up, get dinner started and wait for Daddy to get home :-) I will love this different phase in my life. We will be having plenty of playdates and library times, we will go to the park and play games, I will definitely be having my own girls night, and Jake and I will absolutely be having some much needed date nights!!

I love my life. Thank you Jesus.

Crazy Love Day 3

2009-11-19T11:36:00.000-08:00

God is holy.

God is eternal.

God is all-knowing.

God is all-powerful.

God is fair and just.

Crazy Love Day 2

2009-11-14T11:08:00.000-08:00

"What if I said stop praying"? What if I told you to stop talking at God for a while, but instead to take a long, hard look at Him before you speak another word. Solomon warned us not to rush into God's presence."
-Crazy Love

Go watch the "Awe Factor" video and worship Him!

www.crazylovebook.com

Crazy Love, Day 1

2009-11-13T08:11:00.000-08:00

"I think most American church goers are the soil that chokes the seed because of all the thorns. Thorns are anything that distracts us from God. When we want God and a bunch of other stuff, then that means we have thorns in our soil. A relationship with God simply cannot grow when money, sins, activities, favorite sports teams, addictions, or commitments are piled on top of it." -Francis Chan, Crazy Love

2009-11-11T13:01:00.001-08:00

What is the real reason of my blog? Hmmmm, I'm trying to decide.

2009-11-02T08:06:00.001-08:00

http://www.mosaicmaryland.com/audio.htm

Listen to our audio of Mosaic's service---Jake and another guy from our church preached last Sunday for about 10-15 each! Jake is first :-) SOOOO good!!! :-)

The Opportunity

2009-09-30T10:13:00.000-07:00

Jeremiah 29:11-13"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, they are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me."

Phillippians 4:6-7"Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."

I'm so excited!!! Jake and I have the priveledge of being involved in an incredible church here in Maryland. Mosaic Church. www.mosaicmaryland.com
www.twitter.com/mosaicmaryland
So, Jake and I have always felt like our age group has been ignored in a lot of churches...so we started a group that we call "The Flow" - multiplying Jesus' influence in our church, our community and our world! We have a great group and we've been meeting for about 7 weeks now. God has placed on our hearts to disciple church members and also to affect our community. The Flow is working on an incredible opportunity for outreach in the greater Frederick ( and we're praying DC, Baltimore, VA area!) A HIP HOP CONCERT!!! We're so excited! It's goign to be great to hear Jesus' name be praised through these artists and for our unbelieving community to have the opportunity to hear it!

So...here it begins! I'll keep you updated!

7 years ago yesterday...

2009-08-28T15:56:00.000-07:00

Someone very special came into my life 7 years ago yesterday. I cannot believe how quickly life has moved since that day. I held, on that day, the most beautiful baby I had ever seen. That day was very special for me and for some other special people that are an incredible part of my life. I'm very thankful for her and her parents.

Happy Birthday Katelynn.

Kiddos

2009-07-10T18:26:00.000-07:00

Halee just turned 4 about 2 weeks ago and now Jett will be 1 in less than 2 weeks...

Time just flies. Everyone said it goes quicker with kids, but you just have to experience it to believe it. Just like a lot of things with kids, experience is the know all haha! They are getting so big. Halee is getting so smart, having conversations with adults, like this one with our good friends/neighbors "Ms. Wendy--Mr. Billy gave you that ring." Speaking of Wendy's wedding band, and I asked Halee why he gave it to her "Because Mr. Billy is in love with her" awwwww. Karis is just goofy, psycho...wierd, she stays up til all hours of the night, and then comes and trys to be all sweet and get in bed with us with this sad pathetic cute face, and in a high pitch voice says "but momma/dadda, I just wanna stnuggle with you..." (she inserts the 't' in snuggle). Jett is our man child, our friends call him Bam-Bam or Manboy or Monster or Linebacker...etc. He's rough, tough, huge, has a manly voice/grunt and is now walking. Funny kids, we are so blessed!!!

Efusjon

2009-06-20T19:59:00.000-07:00

www.myefusjon.com/dubbsr

Feeling like a newly wed again...

2009-05-02T11:35:00.000-07:00

So Jake and I will be married 5 years this month! WOW. Plus we have 3 kids, we definitely aren't newlyweds anymore, hehe. And I love it that way. I love that we can screw up big time, and be forgiven without even a second thought, I love the way he still looks at me-with love and caring, I love the way he holds my hand-and yes, it still gives my heart a little flutter, I love the way he hugs me-like nothing else matters, I love the way he loves me, and I love him. He is such a good man, a good husband, a good father. I am so thankful for him. Now I'm not much of a romantic, even after the words you have just read, but his love for me and our children makes me so happy! He sacrifices every day for us...amazing.

i.e. So...thursday night (after the kids were in bed), to be specific, we are watching "Shall We Dance?"-an older romantic movie with Richard Gere and J-Lo. Not by choice really, we rarely watch romance movies together, but he is taking a Marital and PreMarital Counseling course for his Masters and he has to do 2 marriage movie reviews. Which the first he picked was FireProof (if you haven't seen it....SEE IT!!) and he picked"Shall We Dance?" for the second. Well at the end of the movie Richard Gere walks into his wife's (not J-Lo) place of work with a single rose and dressed in a tux (they were going through a "boring" phases in their marriage) and hands the rose to her and starts dancing with her. So during the credits I took Jake's hand and we started dancing. Now slow dance is just not Jake's thing, but he did it anyway and then we were just laughing, giggling and doing crazy, silly things for about 10 minutes. Ahhh, it was so wonderful. I felt like we were still dating or even like we were newlyweds again. This kinda thing happens more often than not-but that's just a recent example that I thought was so fun and cute :-)

I love you Jake <3

2009-04-07T07:34:00.000-07:00

I realize that this is NOT the blog that I had intended but I felt as a couple things came to mind this week and last that this was more on my heart.

This is my own version of a friend's blog and how it applies to my life and my kids; hers was about her kids being sick and mine is about the current state of life.

God reminds me that my children are not mine to keep. They are mine to surrender. And the more I hear about certain things going on, the more I have to give them to Him but the more I want to hold them close. It’s heart-wrenching to yield them so fully to the Lord while longing more every day to grab them in my arms and run to safety.
It is easy to feel guilty that God uses our kids to purify our faith, that my walk with God has the potential to bring trials into my kids’ lives is a sobering reality. Yet my walk with Him also means they benefit from my transformation and share in the joys as I declare His faithfulness to the next generation.

Interesting to think about!

Finally Relief.

2009-04-02T14:14:00.000-07:00

From sickness, from snow, from sleep depravity, from crankiness, from bickering, from it all!

Life seems to be goin' alright. I mean, that of course means something is gonna hit the fan soon ;-) It's alright though, it makes us stronger because of it.

I'm studying Ephesians right now with my girls :

Definitely hitting some heavy theology in there, with big difference in beliefs and interpretation, but I strongly believe that this will make us stronger believers - even if we walk away with the same beliefs as we started with. Hopefully our Biblical proof will be stronger than before and our hearts will be at ease with our choice.

Our God is a good God!

Psalm 34:8 "Taste and see that the Lord is good..."

Psalm 86:5 "You are forgiving and good, O Lord..."

Mark 10:18 "...No one is good, except God..."

Next time..."No good" - a look at why I'm no good, and why nothing I do (or don't do) makes me a better person than the other.

2009-03-18T06:50:00.000-07:00

Halee has rota virus - she was finally diagnosed after 4 days of vomiting and diarrhea. She was put on an IV in the hospital with meds and lots of fluids. She has stopped vomiting but still isn't feeling well. Please pray for her! Thank you!!

Starbucks!

2009-02-24T18:48:00.000-08:00

So, I'm sure many of you know that I'm currently working at Starbucks. Yes, I'm a Barista! YAY! It's only a PT gig to get health insurance because Jake's company is small and the insurance costs so much for me and the kids to be added onto it. So we're making a little extra cash and getting much cheaper health insurance for the kids and me next month! I love it. I love working on bar and making the drinks but I also love being on register and talking to all the customers. I normally work tues, thurs 430am-930am, sat 530am-2pm and sun evenings. So I'm a very busy girl.

It's tough juggling work on top of my most important duties and my real FT job-being a wife and mom. But I think I'm finally getting the hang of it...slowly. I'm absolutely exhausted right now bc I need to work an average of 27 hrs a week for the next 5 wks in order to meet my goal to even get health insurance. And my house just never seems to get clean, toys are always on the floor, the kitchen floor always needs to be swept and mopped, the laundry always piles up so quickly, and oh the dishes...there are always dishes in my sink.

But most importantly to me, Jake is home with the kiddos when I'm at work. It's really tough on him because he is working 45 hrs a week plus in seminary taking 6 credits, then working out on top of that. It's just craziness. Hopefully when April rolls around we'll be able to relax a little more and I'll have my normal schedule back at work.

Agh!!! I'm a crazy person to be doing this!!!!!! :-)

2009-01-28T05:48:00.000-08:00

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2196255&l=3da2f&id=55710807

here are some pictures of Jan 09 - check them out! if you're not on facebook or not my friend, add me and you can check out some really cute videos of the kids!

Sweet

2009-01-25T12:42:00.000-08:00

Thank you for all for your prayers. I went to a Endocrinologist and she immediately suggested that I have radiation done to my thyroid. - therefore KILLING my thyroid. It's not my thyroid that's the problem. My body is attacking my thyroid so therefore somethign in my body needs to be changed. I refuse, absolutely refuse to kill my thyroid - I mean, I'm only 25. Jake is seeing a naturopath and an acupuncturist - she's doing amazing things for him so I'm going to see her soon. It's crazy expensive, but I'm willing to do it to be healthy - I'm tired of taking medication (although I'm not going to stop and make myself sicker until I find out what she says). You guys are just so sweet to respond! Thanks for reading!

The kiddos are great. They are wonderful. Halee, 3.5, is momma's girl - and is my big helper. She loves her schoolwork and really wants to go to preschool! She's so funny and this morning after we woke up she was giving Jake hugs and kisses, she told him "pee-ew Daddy", I asked her what was wrong and she said "daddy has STINKY breath" hahaha! Made us both start laughing. Karis, 2, is a little goofball still. She has this crazy laugh and this psycho looks - if looks could kill you, her's would! She still into everything, and if I was healthy she would be fully potty trained (she takes her own diaper off and go to the potty on her own at least 4x a day). Jett - oh boy! He's just 6 months old now! He started getting up on his hands and knees just a couple days before he turned 4 months, he started rocking a couple days later, then after 2 weeks of that he started the army crawl and about a week later he was crawling all over the place. At 5 months and 3 weeks he started pulling up on things - now he's standing up all over the place. He eating baby food like crazy and getting so big!!!

My disease...

2009-01-21T09:16:00.000-08:00

Graves' disease is the most common form of hyperthyroidism. It occurs when your immune system mistakenly attacks your thyroid gland and causes it to overproduce the hormone thyroxine.
The abnormal immune response can affect the tissue behind your eyes as well as parts of your skin. The higher thyroxine level in Graves' disease can greatly increase your body's metabolic rate, leading to host of health problems.What is Graves’ disease? This is an uncommon disease that affects 2 percent of all women at some time in their lives.

What are the symptoms of Graves' Disease?
These are the most common symptoms of Graves’ Disease and hyperthyroidism:
trouble sleeping
fatigue
frequent bowel movements
irritability
weight loss without dieting
heat sensitivity
increased sweating
muscular weakness
changes in vision or how your eyes look
rapid heart beat
hand tremors

Thanksgiving 2008

2009-01-14T06:50:00.000-08:00

So, I'm supposed to write a story about Thanksgiving 2008, as a family of 5. I'm not really in the mood to write bc I'm really not feeling well, but we'll see how it goes!! I'm writing this as the girls would've remembered it!

Thanksgiving 2008 was focused on us giving thanks to Jesus for our family, friends and food. We spent the day watching movies and then making dinner. We didn't have turkey because mommy had a hard time sticking her hand inside and pulling out all the stuff in there. Mommy almost threw up! YUCK! Finally daddy tried to help but the turkey was still a little frozen - oops! Oh well, we ended up having ham, sweet potato casserole, green beans, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce and stuffing! It was so yummy! Jett even got to eat some rice cereal for the first time! The next day we had it all over again, except we got to eat the yummy turkey because mommy finally got all that yucky stuff out of it and baked it!

FLORIDA!

2008-12-30T15:44:00.000-08:00

So, we've been in FL for about 5 days now and I miss it terribly! It's been 70-80 degrees the entire time...I just want to stay here. Why not?

We went to Disney yesterday, it was absolutely ridiculously and disgustingly busy. No, not just busy, PACKED! The kids had a blast though, and we had fun too. I want to go back when it isn't so busy! Jake and I have been by ourselves...when we first got married, but I would like to take the kids during a different time of the year.

Anyway, we're enjoying our next couple days of FL weather...and not looking forward to going back up to MD! Ugh!

:-) Hope you all had a great Christmas! HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2008-12-22T07:08:00.000-08:00

So we're headed to Florida the day of Christmas - we'll be stopping in GA, to stay with Amy and John (Jake's sis and bro-in-law) for the night and then go on down to the Sunshine state!!! Ahhhh, I cannot wait to be back in the warm weather again! We really miss living there! It literally feels like 7 degrees here right now...ridiculous.

The girls don't know yet, but we are going to Disney World while we're down there. Halee is going to go crazy with all the princesses! I can't wait to post pictures. We'll be down in FL for a good week, hopefully we'll be able to defrost while we're down there. :-)

CHRISTMAS!!

2008-12-14T12:30:00.000-08:00

I'm so excited for Christmas! We decorated our townhouse today, got our Christmas tree the Friday after Thanksgiving, finished our Christmas shopping yesterday--YAY!!! I just cannot wait. We have decided that one of our traditions will be to sleep down in the living room Christmas Eve, as a family - Jake actually suggested it! And I love it. Halee is really understanding what Christmas is about - which is such a joy! Today she found a picture of Jesus hugging someone and ran to us, telling us all about it!

One thing that really upsets me though is the "Christian" radio station in our area. It's really pathetic and Jake and I would almost rather listen to a secular station or only our 1 Christmas CD because of it. I was running to Lowe's with Halee today and we are listening to this particular station, we were singing to the music and just enjoying the Christmas spirit. But then these idiots started talking...and ADULTS, yes adults, were saying that they were so thankful for the real reason for the season which was "all the turkey, food, friends, and family...", "that we can celebrate the religious reason, not just santa...", "giving to others..." UGH!!! Not one word about Jesus Christ, OUR SAVIOR, being born - nothing, nada...I immediately called Jake because I was so upset. It's absolutely ridiculous, those things are great but the REAL reason is Christ's miraculous birth!

2008-12-11T10:32:00.000-08:00

Some people may be a little taken back by my previous post, others may think they are better than me, and many may just shake their head in shock or disgust. That's fine. But I hope you will read and share my joy at the things that I have been through. I am confident that my God loves me unconditionally, no matter what people think. I am also thankful that God used tough times in my life to strength and grow me.

July 6, 2001 (Out of a journal entry from 2001)

2008-12-09T13:12:00.000-08:00

Last night I went over to Missy's (well she's house-sitting), and a bunch of people were there! It was so fun. I drank for the first time, I mean I've tried it before, but just a taste...definitely haven't ever gotten drunk. I mean, my parents don't drink, so I've never been exposed to alcohol and I've been taught that I shouldn't. But seriously they also won't take me seriously, they won't even let me going to BBC to play soccer. You would think they would want me to go to a good Christian college - whatever. So last night, I got so drunk -it felt good to do whatever I wanted- it was so fun, although this morning I didn't feel so hot. And I lost my virginity...ugh! Serves my parents right. They are so strict and ridiculous. If they gave me some slack maybe I wouldn't have to act out so much. I hope I never treat my kids like this! So all in all, I had a great birthday! 18 BABY!!! I think I'm going to move out of my parents house. I mean what's the use of being there anyway. All they do is give me rules, that are absolutely ridiculous! Whatever, I'm 18 - I can do what I want.

July 6, 2001 (Looking back from where I am now)
So, I made the biggest choice of my life last night. It was my birthday, I turned 18! Missy was house-sitting so a bunch of us went over and had a party. I had never really drank alcohol before, except a taste here and there, but I got wasted. I did a couple things I regret, including losing my virginity. Yeah...wasn't the best choice of my life. At all. Ugh, on top of that, I felt awful this morning. But I'm at the lowest point of my life right now, so I am just going to keep getting lower, until I realize that I really need to find my relationship with God again. This night changed the rest of my life forever.

2008-12-02T09:42:00.000-08:00

I'm starting today...I mean, my life is so complicated but yet so simple. I am very busy - finishing up 2 courses through the local community college, working 20 hours a week at Sbux, taking care of 3 small children, taking care of (I mean spending time with) my husband, cleaning, laundry...etc but I have, more than ever before, the desire to write. I would say that I'm not even a very good "writer". But I really don't care, I want to share my life, my story, my love to the world. So, I'm starting today. I've just been inspired...thank you.

Election Prayer

2008-11-06T11:43:00.001-08:00

*got this from Jamie's website-pretty powerful! it was from john eldredge's e-mail chain.

Friends, my hunch is you already have been, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t ask you to be praying about next week’s elections. I think the prayer is simple, really: That God would constrain his people by his Spirit in them to do what is right. This is a good prayer because so many other things can motivate us, like fear, or the power of the advertising, all that gets thrown at us as an election approaches. Emotions are high, but I’m not sure clear thinking is. I wish I had the confidence that God’s people would not be phased by any of it, but we are human and sometimes we are swayed by things other than the Spirit of God. So that’s the prayer for this weekend, that God’s people would be moved by his Spirit and nothing else.

Daddy and Halee Conversation

2008-10-16T17:34:00.001-07:00

So I'd like to preface this by saying that all 5 of us are in the car driving back from Costco. Jake loves to have the windows down as often as possible and tonight was so beautiful, so they were open. Kiki was lovin' it and smiling and laughing...but Halee was trying to talk to Jett and keep him happy. Jake and I are up talkin' and here it begins:

Halee: Please roll up the window!!
Mommy: What Halee? (wind was loud as we're driving)
Halee: ROLL UP THE WINDOW PLEASE
Mommy: (laughs and repeats to Daddy)
Daddy: Oh suck it up (laughing)
Halee: No, you suck it up Daddy (smiling so big)

HAHAHAHAHA! Jake and her always fight about having the windows down because the wind is so loud and Halee likes to talk in the car...when the windows are down (on few occasions) it just doesn't happen. Anyway, we got a kick out of it and thought you too!

The kiddos

2008-10-12T18:53:00.000-07:00

My baby girls are growing up. I mean, I'm sure everyone that has kids says that...but it's just so sweet to see them changing. Karis, 21 months, has such a sweet spirit. When you ask her to come give you a kiss she giggles and runs away, but we have found her soft spot...we give her the poochy lip and sniff like she hurt our feelings and she comes RUNNING over to make us feel better with a great big kiss and squeeze around our neck. SO SO CUTE! She absolutely is in love with her Daddy, and Daddy sure does love that, especialy since Halee is Mommy's girl. Halee, 3 yrs, is just hilarious. She is my little helper...the 2nd mom in our family. "Daddy, you have to finish your work before you can watch TV", "Don't tell me 'dont' momma", "MOMMY, Kiki turned on the TV", "But Daddy said I could...". And they both adore their little brother...they fight about who gets to kiss Jett, and feed Jett, and give Jett his pacifer. Some days the two of them absolutely can't get enough of eachother and I barely see them because they are back in their play area playing house or pushing their walmart cart. Other days...oh my goodess...they are worst enemies. I feel like I shouldn't even have them in the same room, no the same level of our 3 level townhouse, because they hit, bite, pull hair, take eachothers toys.

Jett is my...well...right now he's my "non-sleeper". And me, I love to sleep. He gets it from Jake, Jake can stay up forever...I don't know how he can lay in bed and NOT go to sleep. As soon as I hit the pillow - I'M OUT. So Jett will nap for 30 min and wake up. Then be up for 3 hours and repeat. I'm trying to get him to take a nice afternoon nap bc that's what the girls and I are used to. Not happening right now. He's already 15 lbs of pure boy! He is lovin' life - smiling and coo-ing all the time. Definitely a momma's boy thankfully!

I'm so thankful for my family. All 5 of us are so blessed!

2008-10-06T18:42:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I'm going public...I desperately want to write a book. I have a couple key issues that I would really love to address but I'm not sure I have the time or patience to sit down and start. And once I do get up the nerve to start, how do I start, what do I say?
Oh! I'm so excited, yet so, frustrated. This has been on my mind for about a year now and I haven't done a thing. I never thought I would write, seriously write. I mean, I love to talk...so I guess they could possibly go together? Maybe not. I feel as though writing is so different, I need to be gramatically correct and all that. I always enjoyed English class but still...it's different.
This book would completely pour my entire heart and life out...I would open myself up to be vulnerable to anyone that read it. People would probably think differently of me, my parents might be upset with me, my family and friends would definitely be surprised.
Oh, it's so wonderful to have Jake supporting me. He thinks it would be a huge burden off of me to write this book, but I'm just not sure I have the guts. Anyone ever write a book?

Couple quick pictures!

2008-10-03T19:18:00.000-07:00

Momma and Jett

Halee and Mommy doing the "kissy" face!!
Our sweet baby boy - Jett!
Silly, crazy Kiki (Karis)
My hotty hubby!

Psalm 13

2008-10-03T18:15:00.000-07:00

I was in a hole, a deep hole...for about 2 years. During these times I wondered "God, where are You? What are You doing?". I hurt, I cried, I prayed. And sometimes I got mad and I didn't pray. Praise God, I am coming out of that hole. It's a process. But I'm so thankful for the Psalms during this process, Psalm 13 especially:

"O Lord, how long will you forget me? Forever! How long will you look the other way? How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul, with sorrow in my heart every day..."

"...But I trust in your unfailing love, I will rejoice because You have rescued me. I will sing to the Lord because He has been so good to me."

How encouraging that David felt the same way!