In Progress

Today is Day 1 of project "Install Wood Flooring & get crappy carpet OUTTA here!". And I couldn't be more excited! I realized today that I have never shown a picture of what Ellie's room looked like when we first got the place, so here it is:

These aren't terrific before shots, but you get the idea- terrible paint color, old crappy crappy crappy (did I say crappy? It was paper thin!) carpet, and me remembering visions of touring the place before we bought it, and seeing a mattress on the floor, JUST a mattres, with no sheets or anything, and a crumpled up nasty comforter in the corner. Oh, and a pillow with no pillow case! YUCK! So, I don't think I need to even say that getting rid of any visions of that day is good- Very good!

I'm bummed that I didn't get a picture of Ellie's room fully equipped with the carpet, her rug, toys, and rocking chair all complete in it, but at least you can see that we repainted a wonderful girly purple- the color was called "Playful Purple"-very fitting.

This is it with just her crib, so she can still nap through the process, and the carpet out. Hopefully tonight I will be able to post pictures of her room totally complete! That would be really awesome. Crossing my fingers!

Love, K

P.S. It just started raining here....finally some sign of winter! At least for us Arizonans :)

Middle

We have come to a decision ladies & gentlemen (although I'm not too sure any gentlemen read this!). We have been trying to decide on a middle name for Claire for quite some time, and Rebekah was the first one that we chose. For whatever reason we backed out on it, but now we're super happy with it! :) It's nice to feel like my little girl has a complete name now.

Today I am tackling all of Ellie's newborn clothes through 6 months..what to keep and what to toss! I feel like I still have a good amount of time to go, but since I'm working a lot, keeping up with my own kid, and pretty tired all the time, I figured I'd better get started!

We're also working on installing our wood flooring in Ellie's room this week :) Lots of before and after pics to come!

Love, K

Mini Crib

We just ordered our crib for Claire off of Ebay! We are super excited. It functions as a full size crib, but is considerably smaller (about a foot). So it is going to fit PERFECT in our little space we have for a nursery! We also bought our wood (laminate) flooring from IKEA, and think we have come pretty close to choosing our paint color. All of this spending is getting me SO excited to meet my baby. I can't wait!

Pregnancy Updates: I'm in my last trimester now! WOO HOO! 28 weeks and going strong :) I am feeling great, and just love love love this time of pregnancy...I can feel her little limbs and can make out a little body a lot of the time when she is moving around. And she is so sweet (I already know :)) because she chooses to move around when I am finally relaxing for the day (or when I wake up), and it's this special time between just her and I. I love her so much already. I feel skinnier this time around. I think it's because I feel like a shark...constantly moving, never able to stop! Gone are the days of being pregnant and lazying around when you already have a baby (not to mention 3 or 4 other kids to look after in my case). It's a good thing though. Keeps me busy & distracted. Some days I wanna cry, but most days I do pretty well ;) Oh, and Ellie is just OBSESSED with my belly. She thinks its hers- she kisses it all day long, lays on it, rubs it, you name it! It's SO precious.

I promise to post pictures of the nursery once we get started. I hoping it will be a huge transformation! Hope everyone is getting pumped for the holidays! I know I am :) Christmas is my favorite time of year. Until next time friends...

K

Trying to Stay Calm

It seems like life has been so busy for me these past few months. Between being pregnant, a mom, a wife, a full time-babysitter, maintaining a (semi) suitable home, and anything else that randomly comes my way- it has JUST.BEEN.BUSY.

Last night Adam and I were talking, which led into arguing, but we'll stick with the talking part for this post :) We talked about being a parent, and how crazy it was for us to think about having 2 kids. My question to him was," When will I have time to rest?". His response was "You won't." True, very true babe.

Which made me think, life doesn't really "slow down" does it? It seems to just get more chaotic. Lovely! But in all seriousness, that really challenged me. There are days when I feel like Adam can't come home fast enough, or I am so overwhelmed and totally feel like throwing in the towel. I think it's in those times, I need to remember the constant rollercoaster of life. It doesn't really stop, it just keeps going- winding around, turning upside down, and occasionally it goes on a straight path that's pretty low key- but not for long.

Keeping that in perspective, it has challenged me to ask myself- "How do I stay calm?". I don't want to be a person that flies off the handle, or cries too often, or gets overwhelmed by silly things. I heard something on a christian radio show that said:

Expectation- Reality= Disappointment

So along with "How do I stay calm?", another thing to ask, is "What is my reality?".

My reality is that I'm a mom, I'm a wife, I'm a home-maker, I'm a worker, I'm a friend, I'm a daughter, I'm a sister...and the list goes on. THIS is my reality. When one thing ends another begins. When Ellie goes down to bed at night, my mothering stops (well, kind of) and I focus on being a wife and friend to Adam. When I close the door and the last kid I babysit is in their parent's arms, I focus on home-making and try to put dinner on the table.

So when do I rest? Now, hardly ever. The more I think about when I will have the chance to rest, the more anxious I become about resting. Does that make sense?

My resolve- Soaking in precious moments. Letting Ellie help me load the dishwasher even though it seems to take a million years. Cleaning in the moments when I know I can handle it and it won't stress me out. Smiling more. Laying on the floor playing more. Taking lots & lots of deep breaths. Sneaking in a 15 minute bath here and there. Reading a few pages of a book before falling asleep. Painting my toenails while the kids are playing contently. Waking up and reading a scripture to motivate me for the day. Throwing some bobbypins in my hair when it looks greasy instead of constantly being disappointed when I look in the mirror. Sneaking in a little nap when the kids are napping......these are the things that will keep me calm. THIS is my reality. It's not about figuring out a specific "time" in which I will rest- it's about finding times in the moments of chaos to breathe and pull yourself together.

To end, Adam came home last night and turned off my christmas music as I left the room. I came back in and asked why he had turned it off- I explained to him that it was helping me relax while I made dinner. He asked" That really relaxes you?", and I said yes. He was fine with that. But it made me think- it's really those small things that keep us going, keep us calm, keep us SANE.

What are your small things that keep you going?

Vaccine Awareness Week: Nov 1st-6th

DISCLAIMER DISCLAIMER DISCLAIMER (PLEASE READ BEFORE YOU READ ON!):
I am in NO way judging other people who decide to vaccinate their children. I am simply going off of the research that I have found, and I have SO many friends of mine who do vaccinate and feel 100% peace about that decision. This is an extremely personal thing, and since this is my PERSONAL blog, and it's awareness week, I thought I'd put in my 2 cents. So please, no hateful comments. Know that this is where I stand, and I respect where YOU stand. Heck, if you decided to write a post on being PRO-vaccine, I would give you a high five! I like when people say what's on their mind.


The National Vaccine Information Center is dedicating the first week in November to Vaccine Awareness. This is something that is SO close to my heart. I have stayed up very LATE many many times, reading books, looking up articles, reading ingredient lists for vaccines & their effects, in order to figure what to do with this important decision.


My oh my is this a controversial thing! I'm a little nervous to even write it on my blog and make it a public thing, but the truth is, I really am passionate about it. You know how you just have to share a good thing when you know about it?- Kinda like sharing the Gospel to unbelievers?


Well, sadly I think that the effects that vaccines can cause to our children is an issue that gets swept under the rug, and that people think you are a TOTAL weirdo for not just doing it. For me though, I just haven't seen anything out there that has convinced me that I SHOULD vaccinate. As I read ingredients lists, and what each of those things can do to our children's bodies, and the MINIMAL, I mean MINIMAL research done to prove that these things are not harmful or cannot forever damage our children, it scares me to death. There is WAY more money going towards the promotion of vaccines, rather than the RESEARCH to make sure that they are safe. And in most cases, symptoms and side effects that children DO have from the vaccines, go unreported- doctors attribute these symptoms to other possible illnesses rather than a side effect. SCARY again. For now, we have decided to not vaccinate our kids. A few people have told me before, that chances are Ellie won't get anything anyways because she will just be "piggy-backing" off other kids who are vaccinated. Well, this isn't true either, because if you look at REAL medical reports, in some cases up to 75% of children WHO HAVE BEEN VACCINATED get the disease. So no, I don't think that I'm "protected by the herd" or "piggy-backing", I think I'm going off of my principles that I wouldn't let Ellie drink toxic chemicals right out of a cup, and likewise, I won't allow that to enter into her body in the form of a shot.


But don't take my word on all of this- I'm not a medical researcher, nor am I a doctor. But I have read lots of things from people who are, credible people, that have opened my mind up. If you want to know anymore about this, here are a few resources:


Go to Mercola.com- He is a naturopathic doctor that has an incredible website with SO many resources for finding out the real 411 on vaccines.


Also, "Shots in the Dark"- this is a documentary and you can find it on You Tube for FREE just by typing that into the title line. It's over an hour and FULL of information to help you see what is in the vaccines that is so harmful, and REAL life stories of people who have been harmed or had their lives taken by vaccines.


If you are reader, I would suggest, "Childhood Vaccinations" by Lauren Feder. A really good FACTUAL book including each and every vaccine, each ingredient in the vaccines, and the side effects of each. She is a nationally recognized physician who specializes in wholistic health.


One quote from her book that I will leave you with, that I think is so right on, is this:


" In light of the current vaccine controversy, the goal of this guide was to provide you with a well-rounded view on vaccinations. Because most of us were raised with the mainstream pro-vaccine point of view, I feel it is important to become knowledgable about both sides of the story."

Only in Arizona...

Can you play outside, just a few days shy of November, in your swimsuits! May seem crazy, but I DID use warm water and the girls thought it was great!

Ellie & Scarlett

Sweet girls :) Look at both of their blue eyes!

After almost 5 yrs...I have a headboard!

Adam and I have never had a headboard our entire marriage. Our room ALWAYS got the short end of the stick- not too many decorations, and it always had our randomness from other parts of the house that we didn't know what to do with! We would really like our room to be somewhere we like hanging out...besides to sleep of course! So, we decided to slowly re-do it as cost effectively as possible!

Operation Bedroom Phase 1: Make a headboard!

Materials: Wood, Staple Gun, Electric Drill, Screws, sturdy Board, Upholstery Batting, Fabric

Total Cost: $19 Wood
$8 Staple Gun
$4 Batting
$0 Fabric- We already had it on hand
= $31!!!

BeforeFrame is done!

Covered it with a sturdy board: Not pictured is me putting tape down the middle so there was no gap.

Staple gun the batting over the front, and then staple the fabric (We used an old comforter that we had)

After

I am really pleased with the way everything turned out! For a $30 project, it makes a HUGE difference in our room. We may end up covering it with something else down the road, but this will do for now :) We have so many more cheap home renovations to share with you! Can't wait...

-Krystle

Nursery Fun

I am getting SO excited to start adding (well enclosing) our room for little Claire! I think I have the color scheme I want to work with, and I'm really gonna have to get creative because she is going to have a small room! It's like a 6 x 6 foot space....tiny! But, she is a baby, and it'll be perfect for her. I'm not super high tech & don't have a scanner to scan in our ultrasound pictures, but I wanted to post a picture of the picture (he he!) so you all could see our sweet little girl!

Claire (Enter Middle Name) Porter :)

Alright, so onto the nursery. Here is what I have come up with so far...there is still time to completely change the whole scheme, but I think I'm pretty set. Ellie's room is painted a really pretty purple and is very colorfully decorated...I'll post pictures of her room once it's clean!....so I wanted a different color for Claire and I'm SO LOVING yellow right now:

I'm pretty decided on pink and yellow. Very girly, and not purple like her sister :) Since it's a small space, I was thinking that I lighter color on the walls would really make it feel more open. Yellow here I come! With the husbands approval of course :) And I like accenting with the rich pink (is rich pink even considered an acceptable term?!?! ha ha! It is now...) I love it love it love it!

And once i saw this awesome wall decor, I was sold! I like it that the flowers pop out, and it's not just a wall sticker. I also think that it could add some nice character to the room...make it feel like less of a tiny box.

And now to the circle crib. The reason I am thinking of going this route is that it seems much more space efficient. Cribs are stinkin big and take up a lot of space in the room! So, I thought of this as a good alternative. Set this baby in the corner of the room, and not only will you have more space to walk around, but maybe I could even put an extra piece of furniture in the room now!

More ideas & photos of our space to come!.....til next time....

-K

Phoenix Children Museum- Family Time!

A few weeks ago we went to the Phoenix Children's Museum :) We had SO much fun taking Ellie around and letting her explore. She would've never left! It's $9 a person, but worth every penny! I think that's actually pretty reasonable considering you can be there the entire day. Here are some pictures of our trip:

Ellie in the split pea scooping section of the little grocery store :)
Ellie & Daddy playing with the cool colored sand!

Making paper leaves in the art room...

Climbing down the crazy contraption they just built! Boy is that hard to do when your'e not 2 feet tall!

All 3 of us at the top (did you notice we are all looking & smiling?!)

It's another one of these!!!....

Yep, we're having another GIRL!!! I am soooooooooo excited :) I knew that I wanted a girl all along but couldn't bring myself to admit it in the case that it was a boy because I didn't want to feel disappointed...not that having a boy is less exciting AT ALL- it would probably be even more so because it would be new to me- BUT I just wanted Ellie to have a little sister :)

We are pretty decided that her first name will be Claire. Don't ask what her middle name will be...completely stumped! Any good suggestions that flow with Claire??? I just texted Adam a couple I though of, to which he responded, " I don't like either of them, keep trying." Bummer! So, help a girl out!

I am 20 weeks along as of Monday, and feeling great! I feel like this pregnancy is FLYING by. Which is a good thing :) I'm not the most patient person I know, and I'm already getting so anxious to meet my new little girl. I wonder all the time what she will be like, look like, how she will be different from Ellie,...all of that good stuff.

On another note, we decided to go with a Birthing Center this time around instead of the home birth route. Not because I feel uncomfortable doing it at home- one of the BEST ways to give birth if you are low-risk in my opinion- but because or insurance covers it! Woop woop! We paid all out of pocket last time, and that was quite the penny, so we are looking forward to just having this baby and not worrying about saving up a ton and stressing ourselves out :)

I would HIGHLY (did I say highly????.....ok, HIGHLY suggest you check out this birth center! It's so exciting that we finally have a birth center in the valley again, and I couldn't believe in the people that are working there any more than I already do. Not to mention it has all sorts of birthing classes, yoga, pregnancy message, ...all things pregnancy. So cool. It's called Blossom Birth Center and it's right across the street from Phoenix Children's Hospital- to appease those of you who start to hyperventilate at the thought of not giving birth at or near a hospital ;)

Well, once again, I am SO SO SO behind on posting. We have been doing ALL SORTS of home renovation, and are about to start adding on the extra room to our condo to make Claire's nursery :) Not to mention, Adam and I both had our birthday's recently, and my child is growing and changing SO much every day. I'm also doing a study called Mending the Soul, which is very intense & HARD to say the least, but I'm dying to write about things I'm learning and how God is working. He is so Good! Until next time friends....

2010 Camping Trip! FINALLY!!

This was our campsite! Beautiful, eh?! We went to the same exact spot last year & loved it, so we thought it fitting to give it another go around :) We even had the tarp to keep us dry in case it rained- it didn't, but it's always a lot of fun to watch the guys struggle to put it up- he he!

We had a bit of a smaller group this year- just 4 couples. But it was nice :) This is the guys before going on their traiditional Man Hike- guns, walking sticks & all! They had a good time as usual and even got to shoot their guns a few times.

Ellie hanging out by our inflatable boat we took out on the lake. Adam and I went on a little "date" for about 5-10 minutes trying to explore the lake on this thing- unfortunately, we had to come back after those 10 minutes because little ol' me wasn't feeling too hot- pregnancy woes! But we tried!

Ellie taking a bath in the wilderness! This was her, happy...before she experienced the cold water and hated it! Poor thing! She also ended up getting an ear infection while we were there- and we were pretty camped out- so we packed up early and went home :) So did everyone else though, so we didn't have to be the party poopers! P.S. It was definitely quite as challenging to have a toddler camping as I anticipated! Naps were non-existent, it was warm, and she was EVERYWHERE! I'm sure next year will be a little better- I hope!

The only picture we took of all of us! I love my family :) I have so so so so much life to catch you up on! This trip was the first weekend in September, and tons has happened since then. One of the MOST EXCITING things is happening tomorrow since we are finding out if our little baby is a boy or girl! To say "I can't wait!" is simply an understatement!!! It's 23 hours away!!!!!!!!

Love,

Annual Camping Trip: Year 3!

My friends and I feel pretty official about calling our camping trips "annual" now...it's our 3rd year this year, and each year seems to just get better and better! A bunch of us couples get together, bring lots of food, games, books- all relaxing material- and just have a good time. I think one of my favorite things to do when camping is sitting around the campfire talking about randomness :)


Also, each year seems to have some sort of big lifestyle change for Adam and I...let me explain:

About the time this picture had taken place, I was pregnant with Ellie! Got pregnant ON THIS trip! Ha ha! Gotta love tents :)
The next year we went, we had this little bundle of joy to take with us! She was SO good...oh remembering the easy days where she didn't want to get down to touch and explore EVERYTHING! This year should be interesting :)
This is just a super cute picture of Adam and Ellie..My favorite one I took on that trip :) Adorable baby, handsome lumberjack husband...doesn't get better than that!

And now to this years trip; I am pregnant with another little Porter and my baby is turning into a little girl- Oh how the years go by so fast! I can't wait to post pictures of this years trip. We always have a blast. The guys usually choose one day to go have a "man day" and they go hike until their feet feel like falling off. The girls stay back and play games pretty much the whole time- although this year I have a feeling I'm gonna be chasing Ellie around!

Wonder what next years will look like.........:)

Love,

Pink : 13 & Almost 16

Me: 13 weeks Pregnant- Finally popped out a little!-Wearing PINK :)
Ellie: Almost 16 Months-Such a BIG girl!- also wearing PINK :)

Me:

This is technically the last week of my first trimester! WOO HOO! Morning sickness is starting to ease up a bit....A BIT! But hey, it's better than nothin' right?! As the days pass, I'm getting more and more excited :) I'm so happy to be pregnant during the Arizona winter. It'll be so nice! I'm a "wear flip-flops all year round" kinda girl, so the weather in the winter is perfect for that! Still having some pretty intense hormone changes- if you don't believe me, just ask Adam! Poor guy. I seriously do feel really for him! We are going to be adding a little addition onto our condo for a tiny nursery. That'll be a fun post! I can't wait until we get it all finished.

Ellie:

Oh my sweet, strong-willed, stubborn, FUNNY, precious girl. She is so much to handle but also SO much to LOVE! Her personality has really been coming through in the past months, and it's such a joy to watch :) She can do all sorts of signs; monkey, ball, more, elephant, train, airplane, apple, flower, all done....there are a few more, but I can't name them at the moment. She is talking lots more these days too....her all time FAVORITE word and object is Ball. Her and ball are pretty tight. She spots them everywhere we go. She also loves to tell us "bye bye" as she is leaving a room, and gets excited to go to bed just to say" night night". So sweet. She aslo says "no" for everything. No means yes, and yes means yes. It pretty much all means yes. The only time we know she doesn't want something is when she gets mad and yells at us! And man o man is she a climber! Freaks her poor mom and dad out, but she is incredibly coordinated, so we try not to worry as much- in a split second she is on the dining room table, laughing, being so proud of herself- it's too cute! We are OVERJOYED to be her parents. It's not so much fun when she's throwing tantrums, or screaming because she's angry, but you take the good with the bad and love it all :)

Love,

K

Ellie Grace Face

Doing what she does best- balancing & climbing

Trying on Dada's shoes...how CUTE is that?!

Trying out her new chalkboard for the first time!

Upset about me putting the hood on her! How could I resist though? Come on.

Watching her show on the couch & eatin' some mac n' cheese

We went to a place in Gilbert called Joe's Farm, and it was SO cool...got a nice summer shot of Ellie there :)

Swinging at the park!

Post-swimming at Granma & Grandpa Bartine's (that makes my parent's sound SO old!)

Love,

AP vs. BW

I'm doing it. I'm tackling it. I'm addressing it.

Attachment Parenting vs. Baby Wise (or any scheduling book for that matter)

These 2 things have kept coming up in my thoughts/conversations lately. And honestly, I feel like I'm over it. Well, not OVER it, because I wouldn't be writing about it, but I'm just really frustrated about it.

It seems like between most moms, there is a battle (or rather, a competition) for how we raise our children. Can I hear a hollar or an Amen?!

I remember when I was pregnant with Ellie, my best friend had just read baby wise and had implemented it with her daughter and I thought it was wonderful! She had such a great baby....so content, really happy, seemed very well rested, and to top it off, my friend seemed well rested and happy too! That looked like a GREAT combo to me.

But I will never forget when my midwife came over to set up things for my homebirth (about 4 weeks before my due date), she saw baby wise sitting on my end table. She asked if I was planning on doing that, which I responded "yes"- the conversation following that just about tore me to shreds. She had the BEST of intentions- don't get me wrong! She has had 10 kids for goodness sakes...she has been around the block and I totally respect her- which was why it was so hard for me to hear. But the jist of what I heard was that I was going to create mistrust with my baby if I let her cry herself to sleep. And I was showing her that her needs coudn't be met- a sort of abandonment feeling. She encouraged the attachment parenting method by Dr. Sears. More of an on-demand way of doing things. You are prompted by your baby's needs and wants, you anticipate cries before they happen, constantly carry them around with you to encourage closeness and create a strong bond. ALL OF IT DID SOUND SO GREAT, don't get me wrong. But I had experienced first hand, what my best friend had going on, and that way seemed just as gentle to me. Content baby, content momma.

Since that conversation, I have thought about these things a lot. Of course I would NEVER want to deprive my sweet baby of attention & affection, nor would I want them to feel abandoned! But in my heart, I do feel a certain balance that I feel like needs to be met. Just as a baby needs love, affection, attention, all of those things- a mom needs sleep & rest!

I am NOT one of those people who forms an opinion without looking at all of the options. That is something that really irritates me. Like when people say that Baby Wise is the devil, and have never even cracked open the book to take a look for themselves! So, I went out and bought the 800 page Baby Book by Dr. Sears, and spend FOREVER reading and reading. Again it sounded great. And there were some things that I definitely wanted to implement with Ellie to promote that bond and closeness.

The first few months, I stuck with baby wise, and seriously, Ellie was THE HAPPIEST BABY I had EVER encoutered. She was on a 3 hr schedule, really NEVER cried, fell right asleep, and was such a go with the flow baby. It was so wonderful. As she got older, she had a harder time falling asleep, and so I started nursing her to sleep. At this stage in life, THIS worked wonderfully. She loved it & so did I. A few months passed, and she started taking AT LEAST an hour to fall asleep while nursing or rocking...she was so irritable. Adam and I decided that it was time to let her cry it out a little. We knew she was so tired, and it wasn't good for her to not take naps...she wasn't a happy baby when she wasn't sleeping! Babies NEED sleep. So, we tried it for 1 day. She cried 16 minutes her first nap. Then it was 5-10 minutes at the most, for the rest of her naps. About 2 days later, I would sing to her, tell her how much I loved her, cuddle her & kiss her, then lay her down and she was OUT! She does it the same way to this day and has an incredibly hard time if there is ever a circumstance where I HAVE to hold her to go down for a nap...like if I forget the pack n' play at a friends house or something. This is what she loves now. She takes 2 really good (at leat 2 hr naps) a day, and wakes up so content and happy.

All of this to say, does it make me the devil that I don't attachment parent to the T? Am I depriving my daughter of love somehow? I was reading a blog not long ago (and not on just this one but others have done it too), and it said something to the effect of - " All of you attachment parents, tell me what you think about....." and I thought, well, I'm not an "attachment parent" so, can I not respond? Is my mothering somehow not good enough to give you a response of worth? I also don't consider myself a "Baby Wise" mom. I consider myself a "do-what-your-insticts- and-logical-thought-tell-you-to-do" kind of mom. Or an "Ask-the-Lord-to-give-you-wisdom" kind of mom and I know he'll be faithful to answer! Just like I'm not the same everyday, my baby isn't the same everyday. We are constantly changing and needing new things.

Another blog friend (Sarah) put on her blog about how she was going to try letting her baby cry-it-out, and that as far as she was concerned, the attachment parents could burn her at the stake! I thought that was hilarious! But it really made me think about how much of an issue this is, and how insecure it can make you feel as a mom.

I know it may seem like I'm downing Attachment Parenting-please hear my heart, I'm not. I think it's wonderful. But I also feel it's a bit of a cult if you are an AP parent. And same goes for BabyWise. I say Love & Accept people. LOVE & ACCEPT. God made EVERY single baby different, and every baby is will require different things. So, lets not make it out to be a my style vs. your style kinda thing. I think that we should give up the competition, and trust that each mom really does generally know what the BEST is for her baby.

There it is. I addressed it. What have you guys encountered with this issue? Anything? Ever feel inadequate with your parenting skills because of competition? I'd love to know that I'm not alone in this!!!

Glory Baby

This morning I looked at my blog & something made me SO sick. I didn't even realize I did it, but once I did, it was like a train hit me.

On my little sidebar there, I put on the countdown that we were waiting for Porter Baby #2. I felt like I had completely discounted my other precious baby that I never got to meet. Just because that one didn't live as long as this one has, doesn't mean that it wasn't a part of us, and wasn't truly our 2nd baby. We refer to him/her as little sibling and still talk about them often.

I'm crying as I write this because it's just crazy how so long can go by, and then suddenly the pain of your loss hits. So many what ifs. I'm not quite sure what to do about the sidebar counter. I'm still going to think about it. But I wanted to acknowledge it. Acknowledge our Little Sibling that we loved SO much and only knew for a few weeks. This song brings a lot of encouragement to me when I think of him/her....

Sunday Sermons

What's so good about the Gospel???

That is the sermon series that our church will be working through for a while. We are going through the book and Romans, and I'm SO excited about it. It's been a long time since I have actually applied what I am learning on Sunday to my everyday life- sad, huh? Totally embarrassed to admit that! Sorry Pastor Bob.

The truth is, the sermons are always (did I say always??) yep, always good. Really challenging. But my lazy butt has been too lazy to apply God's word to my life. So, today I decided to take action. I laid on my bed after church, and said a prayer something like this- " Hey God, ya it's me. Better late than never right??" Short and simple but very exciting. I think He liked it too :)

This week we talked about how the Gospel transforms us. We learned about Paul, and how he went from a position of authority & power, livin' the high life in Rome, and gave it up to be a bond-servant to Christ. Pretty powerful stuff. Paul is definitely the man. I mean, he wrote some of my favorite books in the bible, and was an apostle for goodness sakes. Byt the way, can you name all 12 apostles?? Off the top of your head? Some friends and I were watching Sister Act this weekend and that was a question on there at the beginning of the movie to the students- we racked our brain and could only name 9! Lame!----ok, whoa! Total sidetrack!----- ANYWAYS, it helped to remind me of when God transformed my life from a sinner to someone who was forgiven and redeemed. Changed me from someone who deserved death to someone who was given the grace of eternal life. I rememeber the day that I believed and how I was just sobbing with indescribable joy...a memory I will never forget-- my life was forever changed that day.

But it occurred to me today, that this "transformation" that we speak of is really not a one time event- it's a constant transformation. God continually doing His work in us, and reminding us of the sacrfice that he made through the Gospel.

The question burning on my mind today- and one that I will focus on this week until next Sunday when I learn something new is: " What does it look like to live a transformed life???"

Some thoughts I had for myself were:

• Work a little each day this week on being more joyful & positive
• STAY IN MY WORD! READ MY STINKIN' BIBLE!
• Thank God for the transformation in my life often
• Try to have my conversations be focused more around Christ

Now, that is a weak list I know, but it's a start. Let the transformation begin! Wondering what passage we went over today? Should you feel the need, crack your bible open to Romans 1:1-7.

Love,