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Thursday, December 16, 2010
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Baby Kearyn...
I just wanted to share this picture of Baby Kearyn with everyone...
~ Kearyn Jaedance ~
6 months
Sunday, December 12, 2010
One Word...Faith
I was recently on a blog that featured writing prompts and it asked a question that got me thinking. The question was, "Give ONE WORD that you would use to describe 2010." Simple enough, right? Yeah, easier said then done.
I thought about this and reflected upon all the events of the year....good and bad. Finally it hit me. My word....
This year was all about walking by faith and not by sight. Trusting the Lord in all that I do and all that I am. The second part has actually proven to be a little more difficult than I thought. I have had to learn to trust God in the ways that He has made ME. I have had to trust that the gifts He has given me are sufficient to accomplish the ministry work that He wants me to accomplish. I have had to stop worrying about what others think I should do or how they want me to be like. I don't need to be like others, I just need to be like Christ.
The second part of the question was what word do you want to use to describe 2011 in a year from now? I hope the I can use the word GROWTH. It isn't the most glamorous word I know. Hope, faith, love....those all sound so....happy. Growth...it doesn't flow off the ol' tongue like the others do. But I really hope it is a year of spiritual growth, personal growth, ministry growth....really, all-areas-of-my-life growth! I don't want one area to not be given over to God to transform and be used for His will. So, that is my prayer for the coming year. I want to GROW closer to God, closer to my family, closer to my friends.
How about you? What word would you describe your 2010? What word do you hope to use to describe your 2011? Feel free to share your thoughts.
I thought about this and reflected upon all the events of the year....good and bad. Finally it hit me. My word....
Faith.
The second part of the question was what word do you want to use to describe 2011 in a year from now? I hope the I can use the word GROWTH. It isn't the most glamorous word I know. Hope, faith, love....those all sound so....happy. Growth...it doesn't flow off the ol' tongue like the others do. But I really hope it is a year of spiritual growth, personal growth, ministry growth....really, all-areas-of-my-life growth! I don't want one area to not be given over to God to transform and be used for His will. So, that is my prayer for the coming year. I want to GROW closer to God, closer to my family, closer to my friends.
How about you? What word would you describe your 2010? What word do you hope to use to describe your 2011? Feel free to share your thoughts.
Attention All Sewing Fans!!!
I stumbled across this cute little blog and wanted to share!
http://sharonsews.blogspot.com/?expref=next-blog
It has some really really really cute ideas! (Can you tell I am excited!) I can't wait to take a look at some of her tutorials as she has a lot of them!
Happy Sewing!
http://sharonsews.blogspot.com/?expref=next-blog
It has some really really really cute ideas! (Can you tell I am excited!) I can't wait to take a look at some of her tutorials as she has a lot of them!
Happy Sewing!
Little Brother's Birthday!!!
So, today my (not so)little brother turned 17. (He is now way taller than I am. Not hard to do, I know.) I can remember when he was born and I just cannot believe that he is 17! I wanted to take a minute to say a few things about my liitle brother...
Today is kind of a bitter-sweet day. I know I have made a lot of references to that this year...the "bitter-sweets". I am overjoyed that we get to celebrate this birthday with him but I am sad because I know he only has one more year at home with my parents and then he will stretch his wings and fly off to some distant land. Sounds a bit dramatic or cliche but I really believe that he is going to travel the world (or at least the United States) before he settles down somewhere. He just likes adventure and travel too much to stay put in one place for long, at least right now anyway. I can tell you that I will miss him dearly.
Cole is my only brother and has always been different than my two sisters and I. It is hard to explain and if he reads this he will probably be totally mad at me but he was always more sensitive. (Not in a girly sort of way, just a caring sort of way.) To this day, there isn't a time that I see him that he doesn't give me a hug.
He is also so funny! He loves to make people laugh and he is just fun to be around. He has been teaching himself to play the guitar for the past couple of years and he is so talented! I love to hear him play. He is a great uncle to my kids. They just adore him and can't wait for their Uncle Co-Co (as they affectionately call him) to come over again and play with him. I know he will be a wonderful dad someday.
I pray for my brother all the time. That God gives him wisdom and the courage to pursue what God has planned for him. I know God has amazing things planned for him and I can't wait to see him live those out even if it does mean that he is a little further away from us then I would like.
So, I just want to say that I love you Brother and I wish you a very Happy Birthday!
Today is kind of a bitter-sweet day. I know I have made a lot of references to that this year...the "bitter-sweets". I am overjoyed that we get to celebrate this birthday with him but I am sad because I know he only has one more year at home with my parents and then he will stretch his wings and fly off to some distant land. Sounds a bit dramatic or cliche but I really believe that he is going to travel the world (or at least the United States) before he settles down somewhere. He just likes adventure and travel too much to stay put in one place for long, at least right now anyway. I can tell you that I will miss him dearly.
Cole is my only brother and has always been different than my two sisters and I. It is hard to explain and if he reads this he will probably be totally mad at me but he was always more sensitive. (Not in a girly sort of way, just a caring sort of way.) To this day, there isn't a time that I see him that he doesn't give me a hug.
He is also so funny! He loves to make people laugh and he is just fun to be around. He has been teaching himself to play the guitar for the past couple of years and he is so talented! I love to hear him play. He is a great uncle to my kids. They just adore him and can't wait for their Uncle Co-Co (as they affectionately call him) to come over again and play with him. I know he will be a wonderful dad someday.
I pray for my brother all the time. That God gives him wisdom and the courage to pursue what God has planned for him. I know God has amazing things planned for him and I can't wait to see him live those out even if it does mean that he is a little further away from us then I would like.
So, I just want to say that I love you Brother and I wish you a very Happy Birthday!
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| This picture collage generated with Smilebox |
Far Away Friends....
A shout out goes to some far away friends that are viewing this blog. I cannot believe how many people abroad have viewed my blog. It is very exciting! Here are some of the countries that people have viewed from:
Canada - evidently getting quite the following from someone in Canada. Thanks so much!
Croatia - this was a shocker to me. I have just as many page views from Croatia as I do from Canada. Very cool!
United Kingdom
Denmark
Germany
France
Italy
South Korea
& the Netherlands!
I just wanted to take a minute and say "Welcome!" and don't be afraid to drop me a note and introduce yourselves.
Canada - evidently getting quite the following from someone in Canada. Thanks so much!
Croatia - this was a shocker to me. I have just as many page views from Croatia as I do from Canada. Very cool!
United Kingdom
Denmark
Germany
France
Italy
South Korea
& the Netherlands!
I just wanted to take a minute and say "Welcome!" and don't be afraid to drop me a note and introduce yourselves.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Okay, I'm Listening....
Yesterday I opened my bible randomly to start my devotional time which I do sometimes. I opened it up to 2 Chronicles. I remember thinking, "Huh, I haven't spent much time here before," and started to browse through my study bible. One of the featured scriptures was 2 Chronicles 7:14. I read it and thought, "That's nice," and then kept on reading. But I quickly became distracted by thoughts of Christmas so I abandoned the Chronicles for the story of the birth of Jesus which always touches my heart and prepares me for the season. After that I went about my merry day.
A little day I was spending some time on my blog and I just felt compelled to flip through a couple of other blogs of people I didn't know. When I got to about the 3rd blog something struck me. It was a blog from a pastor and his featured scripture of the day was.....you guessed it 2 Chronicles 7:14. Okay God.....I am listening.
Although all scripture is good as it is inspired by God himself, for whatever reason that day He wanted me in 2 Chronicles. I selfishly did not want to be there as I wanted to experience the warm fuzzy feeling of Christmas by spending time in Matthew and Luke reading about the birth of Christ which I have studied many, many different times. I have not studied the Chronicles as much and so it makes a lot of sense that God would want me to spend more time there studying and learning about something new.
For those of you who aren't familiar with 2 Chronicles 7:14 here you go:
"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14
That is a pretty powerful scripture in itself and I do feel very convicted to pray even more for my nation and my community but I think the lesson that I learned from this scripture was even more powerful then that. I learned that I cannot go before God even when it concerns the bible, especially when it comes to the bible. I need to "seek His face" and let God guide me where He wants me to go....especially through the bible as that is one of His most powerful ways of communicating with us.
Thank you God for patiently teaching me and reminding me of such things.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Funny of the Day....
I haven't posted a "funny of the day" from one of my kids in a while. This one I just couldn't resist.
Creide, my 3 year old, was taking his before bed bath. I hear him get out, which is unusual because he usually screams for me at this point. Then he comes running as fast as he can into the kitchen. He gets a chair and climbs up onto it to where we keep our fruit snacks.
In the meantime, he doesn't know that I am in the next room. I say, "Creide, you don't need another fruit snack today."
(Insert deer in headlights look here.)
"Mom," he says sweetly, "I was just going to put one in my pants pocket......"
"Creide...." I chuckle, "you're not wearing any pants."
(Insert Creide's cute little smile here. For those of you who know him know which one I am talking about.)
Creide, my 3 year old, was taking his before bed bath. I hear him get out, which is unusual because he usually screams for me at this point. Then he comes running as fast as he can into the kitchen. He gets a chair and climbs up onto it to where we keep our fruit snacks.
In the meantime, he doesn't know that I am in the next room. I say, "Creide, you don't need another fruit snack today."
(Insert deer in headlights look here.)
"Mom," he says sweetly, "I was just going to put one in my pants pocket......"
"Creide...." I chuckle, "you're not wearing any pants."
(Insert Creide's cute little smile here. For those of you who know him know which one I am talking about.)
The Write Way to Worship...
Do you ever have one of those God moments and your just think to yourself, "Why did I not think of that before?" Well, I seem to have those all of the time but one of these moments happened to me very recently that I wanted to share with you.
If you are a regular visitor to my blog you probably have noticed that my postings have kicked it up a notch in frequency. I have always been a writer. I LOVE writing. Most of you probably didn't know about that because I have kept it pretty quiet throughout my life. My mom is probably reading this right now going...huh, I never knew that. Just kidding Mom!
Since I was in 2nd grade I remember vividly thinking that it would truly be my hearts dream to be a writer and even publish a book someday. Of course I never shared this with anyone and then you start hearing how hard it is to make it as a "writer." You hear how hard it is to get published and so on and so forth until, like a lot of aspiring writers, your dream fizzles out into a distant memory.
I would have people periodically encourage me throughout the years that I did need to pursue this venture after reading something I wrote but I didn't pay much attention. After all, if it was so hard to get published then I didn't stand a chance. So, I just wrote for my own pleasure or lack there of. I would mostly write when I was frustrated or hurting. That was really how I would cope with most anything throughout my life. Jason, my dear husband, could always tell when something was wrong because I would be frantically writing in one of my journals and I can just imagine what was going through his mind....."Here we go again...." (I thank God daily that He gave me such a patient and tolerant man!)
A little over six months ago I just felt it pressed upon my heart that I needed to write more. If I would have heard God audibly it probably would have sounded something close to this...."write, write, write." Something so basic, so simple, nothing flashy. Just one word, one command. I was obedient. I started writing about anything and everything that came to mind. I literally have hundreds of things written, stored up for whatever reason or no reason at all. For some reason though (of course we know the reason) I started writing lots of devotionals. I loved it! I had never written like that before and it felt amazing. This was exactly what God wanted me to do.
So, here we are. (Fast forward six months later....) I have this incredible desire to write but wait...I am a wife and a mom of four kids. I have other obligations. Certainly I don't have time for writing. I should be doing more important things like laundry......(sounds silly to some of you....laundry over being obedient to God.....others are agreeing with me :-) That is when it hit me like a ton of bricks. This is my form of worship. I know, I know...painfully simplistic and really quite embarrassing. I had heard about people that had other forms of worship other than the traditional music form that comes to mind but that really couldn't apply to me, right? Wrong.
Here is where you come in. Thank you so much for reading. Thank you for your encouraging thoughts, words and prayers. It is my hearts desire to glorify God in all that I do and all that I write. It is my prayer that through the words that God gives me that He can inspire, touch, and give hope. If you can join me in prayer for that I would be so grateful. I want to get my story out there. I want to share how God's love has changed my life so drastically and more importantly I want others to know and experience God's love for themselves. I am praying for platforms and opportunities to do just that. Thank you again from the bottom of my heart for reading this participating in my worship to the Lord. There are no words....
If you are a regular visitor to my blog you probably have noticed that my postings have kicked it up a notch in frequency. I have always been a writer. I LOVE writing. Most of you probably didn't know about that because I have kept it pretty quiet throughout my life. My mom is probably reading this right now going...huh, I never knew that. Just kidding Mom!
Since I was in 2nd grade I remember vividly thinking that it would truly be my hearts dream to be a writer and even publish a book someday. Of course I never shared this with anyone and then you start hearing how hard it is to make it as a "writer." You hear how hard it is to get published and so on and so forth until, like a lot of aspiring writers, your dream fizzles out into a distant memory.
I would have people periodically encourage me throughout the years that I did need to pursue this venture after reading something I wrote but I didn't pay much attention. After all, if it was so hard to get published then I didn't stand a chance. So, I just wrote for my own pleasure or lack there of. I would mostly write when I was frustrated or hurting. That was really how I would cope with most anything throughout my life. Jason, my dear husband, could always tell when something was wrong because I would be frantically writing in one of my journals and I can just imagine what was going through his mind....."Here we go again...." (I thank God daily that He gave me such a patient and tolerant man!)
A little over six months ago I just felt it pressed upon my heart that I needed to write more. If I would have heard God audibly it probably would have sounded something close to this...."write, write, write." Something so basic, so simple, nothing flashy. Just one word, one command. I was obedient. I started writing about anything and everything that came to mind. I literally have hundreds of things written, stored up for whatever reason or no reason at all. For some reason though (of course we know the reason) I started writing lots of devotionals. I loved it! I had never written like that before and it felt amazing. This was exactly what God wanted me to do.
So, here we are. (Fast forward six months later....) I have this incredible desire to write but wait...I am a wife and a mom of four kids. I have other obligations. Certainly I don't have time for writing. I should be doing more important things like laundry......(sounds silly to some of you....laundry over being obedient to God.....others are agreeing with me :-) That is when it hit me like a ton of bricks. This is my form of worship. I know, I know...painfully simplistic and really quite embarrassing. I had heard about people that had other forms of worship other than the traditional music form that comes to mind but that really couldn't apply to me, right? Wrong.
Here is where you come in. Thank you so much for reading. Thank you for your encouraging thoughts, words and prayers. It is my hearts desire to glorify God in all that I do and all that I write. It is my prayer that through the words that God gives me that He can inspire, touch, and give hope. If you can join me in prayer for that I would be so grateful. I want to get my story out there. I want to share how God's love has changed my life so drastically and more importantly I want others to know and experience God's love for themselves. I am praying for platforms and opportunities to do just that. Thank you again from the bottom of my heart for reading this participating in my worship to the Lord. There are no words....
Kearyn's Story....Part 4 (Her Name)
This week I am writing about my 6 month old baby girl, Kearyn. It has been such a fun process for me. Emotional at times, funny at times, but overall it has been good. If you haven't read the other parts of the series yet I have put the links below for your convenience.
Kearyn's Story...
Kearyn's Story....Part 1
Kearyn's Story....Part 2
Kearyn's Story....Part 3 (Her Delivery)
The day of Kearyn's birth was a glorious day. As soon as she was born we were surrounded by so many family members and close friends it was unbelievable. I think I can speak for Jason as well on this....we just felt so loved. Even though our daughter was only minutes or hours old we could feel the love that everyone had for her as well. The hospital was a bit overwhelmed by all of the guests and asked us several times if we wanted to put a sign up that we weren't available or have them turn away our visitors. Each time we declined. We just didn't feel right about the fact that we had so many people hoping and praying for us all those months to then just shut them out of the actual event. We knew that it was important for us to share that day with all who wanted to share it with us.
The big question that we continued to get was what did we name her? Since we did have so many guests we did not have time to privately pray over her and pray about her name until about 5pm or so that day. (Keep in mind she was born at 9am.) I think the grandma's were about ready to lynch us but it was very important that we prayed over her first before naming her. It was then we did settle on the name:
Kearyn's Story...
Kearyn's Story....Part 1
Kearyn's Story....Part 2
Kearyn's Story....Part 3 (Her Delivery)
The day of Kearyn's birth was a glorious day. As soon as she was born we were surrounded by so many family members and close friends it was unbelievable. I think I can speak for Jason as well on this....we just felt so loved. Even though our daughter was only minutes or hours old we could feel the love that everyone had for her as well. The hospital was a bit overwhelmed by all of the guests and asked us several times if we wanted to put a sign up that we weren't available or have them turn away our visitors. Each time we declined. We just didn't feel right about the fact that we had so many people hoping and praying for us all those months to then just shut them out of the actual event. We knew that it was important for us to share that day with all who wanted to share it with us.
The big question that we continued to get was what did we name her? Since we did have so many guests we did not have time to privately pray over her and pray about her name until about 5pm or so that day. (Keep in mind she was born at 9am.) I think the grandma's were about ready to lynch us but it was very important that we prayed over her first before naming her. It was then we did settle on the name:
Kearyn Jaedance Gressman
For those of you who are wondering how to pronounce that for sure it is as follows: K-ear-in
The next question I usually get is how we came up with that name. Well...... after 3 children we found ourselves in a bit of a name pattern. We have Cale Joseph, Kylind James, and Creide Jaxton. When we started naming our children it was not my goal in life to have all my kids start with a "K" sound or anything like that it just sort of happened. I just like boys names that start with that sound I guess. So, when we found out we were having another child my husband said we really needed to stick with the pattern or this baby would feel left out. This was not a problem if it was a boy. I already had a boys name ready to go. When we found out she was a girl......that was a whole different story. I just don't have a surplus of girls names that I like in my back pocket. I have always struggled with girls names. Jason was adamant that we stick with the pattern. K for the first name and J for the middle name. The pressure was on....
I poured through "K" girl names. I didn't find any that I liked. Jason's naming tactic is really to let me come up with the names and then he reserves veto power so he didn't really bring any to the table at all. I did like the name Kiera but it was a little popular for my liking. Then I thought of the name Evelyn. This was a middle name of one of my great grandma's. So, I combined the two names together. Kiera + Evelyn = Kieryn. So, then we had to decide how to spell it. That literally took months. I like the "ea" partly because of my name and partly because I thought it looked prettier...more feminine. So Kieryn turned into Kearyn. I later found out that Kearyn (or Kieran) appropriately meant "ray of light." She has definitely been a ray of light to our family. It was amazing to me that through that whole process that God provided us with such a perfect name.
As for the middle name.... I originally wanted her middle name to be "Jae" after Jason. But then I really wanted my name to be in there as Kearyn is our last child. So, I thought of Jaeda or Jaedan but couldn't settle on anything for sure. One morning I was laying in bed and thought of a girls name that I liked long ago. Cadance. Jae + Cadance = Jaedance! Jason and I both loved it and it had parts of both of our names in it. Perfect!
So, that is how she got her name, long story short. ;-)
So, that is how she got her name, long story short. ;-)
Below is a picture of Kearyn in her coming home outfit which I made from a vintage linen I found with the letter "K" embroidered on it.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my ramblings. It means a lot to me that you have taken the time out of your busy schedule to do so.
~Andrea
~Andrea
Homemade Holiday...Stockings!!!
With the addition of Kearyn girl to our family I am in the market for a new stocking for her. I really haven't found any cute ones that I have wanted to buy. It seems like with the economic crunch stores aren't providing the cute options they once did. So....I have been thinking about making my own. I have several cute ideas floating around in the ol' noggin' but haven't settled on what I am going to do just yet. I promise that I will share when I get it done. :-)
In the meantime, I wanted to share some cute resources that I have found just in case you are in the same predicament. I do hope that you share your ideas with me and, even better, pictures as I would LOVE to see them!
One of my favorite magazines is All You . I just love the variety of craft ideas, fashion, recipes....and it is all on a budget. Everything that I am into! What more could a girl want? Anyway, I received an email from them and went to their website and low and behold there are STOCKINGS!!!! Here are a few of their cute ideas:
This one has a variety of different stocking ideas. Everything from ballet slippers to dog paws. :)
http://familyfun.go.com/christmas/christmas-gifts-cards-decorations/christmas-crafts-stockings/
This one has a tutorial on how to make stockings from recycled sweaters. I totally love this idea. :-) I didn't like the shape as much but I think that is an easy fix.
http://www.greenyourdecor.com/6836/how-to-make-ecofriendly-upcycled-sweater-stockings-tutorial/
Anyway, I thought you might enjoy looking at these cute ideas as much as I did!
Happy Crafting!
In the meantime, I wanted to share some cute resources that I have found just in case you are in the same predicament. I do hope that you share your ideas with me and, even better, pictures as I would LOVE to see them!
One of my favorite magazines is All You . I just love the variety of craft ideas, fashion, recipes....and it is all on a budget. Everything that I am into! What more could a girl want? Anyway, I received an email from them and went to their website and low and behold there are STOCKINGS!!!! Here are a few of their cute ideas:
(These are made from tea towels :-)
This one has a variety of different stocking ideas. Everything from ballet slippers to dog paws. :)
http://familyfun.go.com/christmas/christmas-gifts-cards-decorations/christmas-crafts-stockings/
This one has a tutorial on how to make stockings from recycled sweaters. I totally love this idea. :-) I didn't like the shape as much but I think that is an easy fix.
http://www.greenyourdecor.com/6836/how-to-make-ecofriendly-upcycled-sweater-stockings-tutorial/
Anyway, I thought you might enjoy looking at these cute ideas as much as I did!
Happy Crafting!
A Homemade Holiday...Gift Idea 1
Every year I try to find something practical and useful that I can make my kiddos for Christmas. I don't want it to be one of those gifts that the boys politely open and say, "Uh...thanks Mom...." and then I find it stuffed in the bottom of their closet to have never been used. I like them to be practical gifts that they will enjoy. I don't always hit the mark on this but I do try.
Last night I was flipping through some different blogs and found this cute little toddler sleeping bag tutorial. I could definitely see my little ones really enjoying this one.
I don't think I will have time this year to make these but will definitely keep in mind for a next year project. I just wanted to pass this along in case any of you were interested. You can go here for the full tutorial.
Last night I was flipping through some different blogs and found this cute little toddler sleeping bag tutorial. I could definitely see my little ones really enjoying this one.
I don't think I will have time this year to make these but will definitely keep in mind for a next year project. I just wanted to pass this along in case any of you were interested. You can go here for the full tutorial.
Happy Crafting!
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
To See God or Not...
I had quite the day today. It started out good. Wednesday mornings are always kind of a down time for our family as Jason doesn't have to go into work until later. So, we usually do a big breakfast and then get started on school before we all head our separate ways just after lunch. This morning was no different. I made homemade pancakes which I usually do at least once a week. Then Cale and Ky started their school work. I love Wednesdays because Jason gets to help the boys with their school and I always enjoy watching and listening to them interact with one another.
After our great morning we all got ready to leave the house to our separate events. Jason has work, Cale to basketball practice, and I have leadership training all at the same time. Jason took the boys and left a few minutes before I left the house with the baby. As I am walking out our back door I see the problem...... Our gate is standing wide open and our two dogs are no where to be found. Jason calls right at that moment. I tell him about the situation and he tells me he will take care of it. However, he is already in town which is 30 minutes away. He also informs me that he is having some issues with our car insurance. In the middle of our conversation our call gets dropped. At this time I see our dogs way down the road so I go after them.
I finally get them in the Suburban. We do not have small dogs either. Our big dog is around 130 pounds. Our other dog is a yellow lab and he is probably half that size. The two together make quite the load. I finally get Jason back on the phone and tell him that I have the dogs but don't have time to go back to the house as I am already going to be late for my training so he says he will just meet me there at the church.
The whole way in the dogs are not behaving. They are climbing all over the seats (leather seats) and just being big pains. I am of course driving and can't do anything about it except yell at them every once in a while which does absolutely nothing. I finally get to the church and get to my training 5 minutes late which always puts my stomach in knots. Jason is agitated too because now he has to deal with the dogs at the church.
My training was phenomenal as usual but as soon as I get done Jason starts to tell me about the issues he is having with our car insurance. For whatever reason they kept saying the my driver's license was not valid. So, with 3 kids and 2 dogs I have to head to the DMV because they won't give any information out over the phone. I am frustrated at the insurance company. Of course my driver's license was valid! I was not happy that I have to go to the DMV either. No one likes to go to the DMV.
As I walk in the DMV I explain my situation to the lady behind the counter. She asks if I just called and I said yes. She said, "I am sure you are really happy to have to drag all of your kids down here aren't you?" Although I wasn't happy to be there I still appreciated the safe-guard that they were putting in affect in order to prevent such things like identity theft so I told her that I really didn't mind (and it was of course not her fault, so why take it out on her) and that I appreciated the process.
It turns out that there was a glitch in the system somewhere that said that I had surrendered my license to another state, which of course was not true. So they had to call that other state and get it cleared up for me. As I was waiting there for about an hour for this process to occur I asked the lady what would have happened if I would have gotten pulled over and she said that I would have most likely received a ticket. I have been driving around with an invalid driver's license for over a year and I didn't even know it. Finally, they got the situation cleared up and I was on my way home with my 3 kids, 2 dogs, and a partridge in a pear tree. (I am just kidding about the partridge in a pear tree. I just threw that in there because it sounded good.) I picked up Cale and headed home. As I was driving down my long driveway a song came on that I have been wanting to hear for a while now. I have never gotten to listen to the whole song so as I pulled up to the house I just sat for an extra moment and listened.
I came in and started to think about what a mess my day had been. As I sat and fed the baby I started thinking about all the things that irritated me. First of all the dogs....Well, at least they got out before I left instead of after I left. Who knows where they would have been if that would have happened. At least I was able to get them back and I didn't have to look my 3 sweet little blue eyed boys in the eye and tell them I couldn't find their dogs.
I thought of the insurance company that I was irritated at.....If it weren't for them notifying us of this problem I would have never known about it. They of course were just doing their job. What if I would have gotten pulled over and gotten a ticket? How much time would that have taken to fix and money?
I started to think of the DMV.....I did get to walk right in. How many times to you go to the DMV and there is this ridiculous line. Plus the lady was very nice and very helpful. I could have gotten some grouchy, unhelpful person. I also got to listen to the song that I hadn't been able to listen to yet. Only God's timing could have done all that.
As I pondered the events of the day my heart softened. I realized that God was actually in the midst of all of it. These things were not there to irritate me but to actually protect me from things that could have been so much worse. I could have gone to bed tonight still fuming about how my plans had not gone accordingly instead of seeing God's presence and protection in the midst of it all. If it weren't for Him, I could be going to bed tonight with a situation that was much worse. So, although things didn't go according to my plan I find myself thankful that things did go according to His. Thank you God!
After our great morning we all got ready to leave the house to our separate events. Jason has work, Cale to basketball practice, and I have leadership training all at the same time. Jason took the boys and left a few minutes before I left the house with the baby. As I am walking out our back door I see the problem...... Our gate is standing wide open and our two dogs are no where to be found. Jason calls right at that moment. I tell him about the situation and he tells me he will take care of it. However, he is already in town which is 30 minutes away. He also informs me that he is having some issues with our car insurance. In the middle of our conversation our call gets dropped. At this time I see our dogs way down the road so I go after them.
I finally get them in the Suburban. We do not have small dogs either. Our big dog is around 130 pounds. Our other dog is a yellow lab and he is probably half that size. The two together make quite the load. I finally get Jason back on the phone and tell him that I have the dogs but don't have time to go back to the house as I am already going to be late for my training so he says he will just meet me there at the church.
The whole way in the dogs are not behaving. They are climbing all over the seats (leather seats) and just being big pains. I am of course driving and can't do anything about it except yell at them every once in a while which does absolutely nothing. I finally get to the church and get to my training 5 minutes late which always puts my stomach in knots. Jason is agitated too because now he has to deal with the dogs at the church.
My training was phenomenal as usual but as soon as I get done Jason starts to tell me about the issues he is having with our car insurance. For whatever reason they kept saying the my driver's license was not valid. So, with 3 kids and 2 dogs I have to head to the DMV because they won't give any information out over the phone. I am frustrated at the insurance company. Of course my driver's license was valid! I was not happy that I have to go to the DMV either. No one likes to go to the DMV.
As I walk in the DMV I explain my situation to the lady behind the counter. She asks if I just called and I said yes. She said, "I am sure you are really happy to have to drag all of your kids down here aren't you?" Although I wasn't happy to be there I still appreciated the safe-guard that they were putting in affect in order to prevent such things like identity theft so I told her that I really didn't mind (and it was of course not her fault, so why take it out on her) and that I appreciated the process.
It turns out that there was a glitch in the system somewhere that said that I had surrendered my license to another state, which of course was not true. So they had to call that other state and get it cleared up for me. As I was waiting there for about an hour for this process to occur I asked the lady what would have happened if I would have gotten pulled over and she said that I would have most likely received a ticket. I have been driving around with an invalid driver's license for over a year and I didn't even know it. Finally, they got the situation cleared up and I was on my way home with my 3 kids, 2 dogs, and a partridge in a pear tree. (I am just kidding about the partridge in a pear tree. I just threw that in there because it sounded good.) I picked up Cale and headed home. As I was driving down my long driveway a song came on that I have been wanting to hear for a while now. I have never gotten to listen to the whole song so as I pulled up to the house I just sat for an extra moment and listened.
I came in and started to think about what a mess my day had been. As I sat and fed the baby I started thinking about all the things that irritated me. First of all the dogs....Well, at least they got out before I left instead of after I left. Who knows where they would have been if that would have happened. At least I was able to get them back and I didn't have to look my 3 sweet little blue eyed boys in the eye and tell them I couldn't find their dogs.
I thought of the insurance company that I was irritated at.....If it weren't for them notifying us of this problem I would have never known about it. They of course were just doing their job. What if I would have gotten pulled over and gotten a ticket? How much time would that have taken to fix and money?
I started to think of the DMV.....I did get to walk right in. How many times to you go to the DMV and there is this ridiculous line. Plus the lady was very nice and very helpful. I could have gotten some grouchy, unhelpful person. I also got to listen to the song that I hadn't been able to listen to yet. Only God's timing could have done all that.
As I pondered the events of the day my heart softened. I realized that God was actually in the midst of all of it. These things were not there to irritate me but to actually protect me from things that could have been so much worse. I could have gone to bed tonight still fuming about how my plans had not gone accordingly instead of seeing God's presence and protection in the midst of it all. If it weren't for Him, I could be going to bed tonight with a situation that was much worse. So, although things didn't go according to my plan I find myself thankful that things did go according to His. Thank you God!
Kearyn's Story....Part 3 (The Delivery)
This is part 3 to a series I am writing about my 6 month old baby girl, Kearyn. If you would like to read the first parts you can do so by selecting the links below:
Kearyn's Story...
Kearyn's Story....Part 1
Kearyn's Story....Part 2
So, I shared with you all how we decided to try again for our fourth child despite losing our son just months before. I also shared what a dark time it was for me as I walked along the pregnancy path. Each day was a battle and each day I just tried to be okay so I could get through to the next day. After nine long months of just existing I joyously knew that it was getting close to the arrival of our baby girl.
On May 30, 2010, which happened to be a Sunday, I began to feel that "feeling" despite my due date not being until June 11th.. If you haven't ever had a baby I don't think there really is a way to describe it. In fact, I really didn't know how to recognize this "feeling" until I had my third child. It is just something you have to experience to know. I knew that I was getting close. Jason suggested that we just stay home from church that day and I said no, it would be okay if we went. At least we would be in town if something did happen. (We live about 30 minutes from the hospital.) Jason gave me a funny look and knew that it was getting close. When he saw me put my hospital bag in the car "just in case" it really heightened his senses.
We went to church and I made it through the service without incident. While back home we continued about our day. I remember thinking that I absolutely had to get my garden planted before she arrived. (Funny how you think of those types of things especially since my garden didn't do worth a darn this year anyway.) So I worked in my garden until right at 9pm that night. The only reason I stopped was because it just got too dark to continue to work. I had no idea how exciting the next 12 hours of my life was going to be.
We headed in and Jason went to bed and I watched movies as I just couldn't fall asleep. About 1:30 or 2:00am the contractions started slow at first like they always do. I decided to jump in the shower to determine whether those suckers were the real deal or not. Sure enough, they didn't go away. Around 2:30am Jason woke up and looked at me as I was quietly timing my contractions. Because I was doing it with my iPhone he could tell exactly how long each contraction was AND how long in between each contraction. (Darn iPhones!) They were 3 minutes apart at that point and at least a minute long. "Andrea," he said in his Jason voice, "don't you think it is time to go in?" .......................................................................................................................................................................................(this is me saying nothing....I know, it rarely happens. In any other circumstance he would have been happy about this, not so much this time though.) Jason just rolled over, got up and started getting the boys ready to go to Grandma's house.
After loading everyone up, taking them to Grandma's, and then heading to the hospital it seemed like it took forever. (Amazing what 3 kids does to you.) I can't tell you exactly what time we got there as I wasn't really paying that close attention to the clock. I remember the nurse giving me the same instructions as all the times before and me answering a thousand questions.
Nurse: "Has your water broke?"
Andrea: "No."
Nurse: "How long have you been timing your contractions?
Andrea: "About an hour and a half or so."
Nurse: "But your sure your water didn't break?"
Andrea: "Yes. I mean, no it hasn't broke."
Finally the nurse checked and with a surprised tone......"Huh? You ARE in labor. You are actually at a 5. Wow! By the way you looked I was going to send you home. I would have never guessed you were in labor."
Andrea: "Okkkaaayyyyyyy........."
(That was just a little dialog to show you how things got started. Don't worry, it gets funnier from there.)
So, I did the whole hot tub thing. (My labors are generally so fast that I have never gotten to do that before. That was pretty neat. We don't have a hot tub at the house so it is kind of funny to me that you have to go to the hospital and actually be in labor to enjoy this little perk.) Then I walked the halls for a bit. (I am telling you that they totally need to re-think the design of the maternity ward. Next time think "circle track" or maybe even an "obstacle course" not "long, straight, boring hall.) Around 5:30am I was pretty tired so I decided to lay down and take a nap. (At this point I was at a 7 and keep in mind my water still hasn't broke. This is typical as this happens with each of my babies.) The nurse asked me if the doctor came in and broke my water if I thought I would have the baby. I said, "Yes, in about 30 minutes." So she kindly went to call the doctor for me.
We waited for the doctor for about an hour and a half and during that time I slept to save up my energy for the final stages of the delivery. The doctor came in and said that the nurses were doing their shift change and it would be just a few minutes. So we waited....and we waited....and we waited. Finally someone came in and let us know that the nurse coming on duty had received a phone call from her husband. He had locked his keys in the house and she had to run home and let him in. (No, I'm not kidding.) So we waited.....and we waited....and we waited. Finally the nurse arrived, the doctor was there and everything was ready to go. He broke my water and said he was going to make some rounds. I told him not to go too far as I would be ready in a few minutes. Sure enough, exactly 30 minutes later I delivered baby girl Gressman. Sure enough, the doctor got there late, wasn't dressed from head to toe in latex yet, and the nurse had to reach over and catch the baby.
All funniness aside, when they placed my baby girl on my chest everything that I had gone through over the past year suddenly melted away. My heart overflowed with joy. She was so beautiful with all of her black hair and her intense eyes. She had the tiniest little cry. My little princess.....
Within 20 minutes there were over 20 people in our hospital room. That day over 75 people came to see the long awaited for baby Gressman. I had no idea how many people had been praying right along with us for her healthy and safe arrival. I will never forget that day. Not just because it is her birthday but because of all of the people who joined us in the celebration of our little miracle.
Stay tuned for more of Kearyn's story.....
Kearyn's Story...
Kearyn's Story....Part 1
Kearyn's Story....Part 2
So, I shared with you all how we decided to try again for our fourth child despite losing our son just months before. I also shared what a dark time it was for me as I walked along the pregnancy path. Each day was a battle and each day I just tried to be okay so I could get through to the next day. After nine long months of just existing I joyously knew that it was getting close to the arrival of our baby girl.
On May 30, 2010, which happened to be a Sunday, I began to feel that "feeling" despite my due date not being until June 11th.. If you haven't ever had a baby I don't think there really is a way to describe it. In fact, I really didn't know how to recognize this "feeling" until I had my third child. It is just something you have to experience to know. I knew that I was getting close. Jason suggested that we just stay home from church that day and I said no, it would be okay if we went. At least we would be in town if something did happen. (We live about 30 minutes from the hospital.) Jason gave me a funny look and knew that it was getting close. When he saw me put my hospital bag in the car "just in case" it really heightened his senses.
We went to church and I made it through the service without incident. While back home we continued about our day. I remember thinking that I absolutely had to get my garden planted before she arrived. (Funny how you think of those types of things especially since my garden didn't do worth a darn this year anyway.) So I worked in my garden until right at 9pm that night. The only reason I stopped was because it just got too dark to continue to work. I had no idea how exciting the next 12 hours of my life was going to be.
We headed in and Jason went to bed and I watched movies as I just couldn't fall asleep. About 1:30 or 2:00am the contractions started slow at first like they always do. I decided to jump in the shower to determine whether those suckers were the real deal or not. Sure enough, they didn't go away. Around 2:30am Jason woke up and looked at me as I was quietly timing my contractions. Because I was doing it with my iPhone he could tell exactly how long each contraction was AND how long in between each contraction. (Darn iPhones!) They were 3 minutes apart at that point and at least a minute long. "Andrea," he said in his Jason voice, "don't you think it is time to go in?" .......................................................................................................................................................................................(this is me saying nothing....I know, it rarely happens. In any other circumstance he would have been happy about this, not so much this time though.) Jason just rolled over, got up and started getting the boys ready to go to Grandma's house.
After loading everyone up, taking them to Grandma's, and then heading to the hospital it seemed like it took forever. (Amazing what 3 kids does to you.) I can't tell you exactly what time we got there as I wasn't really paying that close attention to the clock. I remember the nurse giving me the same instructions as all the times before and me answering a thousand questions.
Nurse: "Has your water broke?"
Andrea: "No."
Nurse: "How long have you been timing your contractions?
Andrea: "About an hour and a half or so."
Nurse: "But your sure your water didn't break?"
Andrea: "Yes. I mean, no it hasn't broke."
Finally the nurse checked and with a surprised tone......"Huh? You ARE in labor. You are actually at a 5. Wow! By the way you looked I was going to send you home. I would have never guessed you were in labor."
Andrea: "Okkkaaayyyyyyy........."
(That was just a little dialog to show you how things got started. Don't worry, it gets funnier from there.)
So, I did the whole hot tub thing. (My labors are generally so fast that I have never gotten to do that before. That was pretty neat. We don't have a hot tub at the house so it is kind of funny to me that you have to go to the hospital and actually be in labor to enjoy this little perk.) Then I walked the halls for a bit. (I am telling you that they totally need to re-think the design of the maternity ward. Next time think "circle track" or maybe even an "obstacle course" not "long, straight, boring hall.) Around 5:30am I was pretty tired so I decided to lay down and take a nap. (At this point I was at a 7 and keep in mind my water still hasn't broke. This is typical as this happens with each of my babies.) The nurse asked me if the doctor came in and broke my water if I thought I would have the baby. I said, "Yes, in about 30 minutes." So she kindly went to call the doctor for me.
We waited for the doctor for about an hour and a half and during that time I slept to save up my energy for the final stages of the delivery. The doctor came in and said that the nurses were doing their shift change and it would be just a few minutes. So we waited....and we waited....and we waited. Finally someone came in and let us know that the nurse coming on duty had received a phone call from her husband. He had locked his keys in the house and she had to run home and let him in. (No, I'm not kidding.) So we waited.....and we waited....and we waited. Finally the nurse arrived, the doctor was there and everything was ready to go. He broke my water and said he was going to make some rounds. I told him not to go too far as I would be ready in a few minutes. Sure enough, exactly 30 minutes later I delivered baby girl Gressman. Sure enough, the doctor got there late, wasn't dressed from head to toe in latex yet, and the nurse had to reach over and catch the baby.
All funniness aside, when they placed my baby girl on my chest everything that I had gone through over the past year suddenly melted away. My heart overflowed with joy. She was so beautiful with all of her black hair and her intense eyes. She had the tiniest little cry. My little princess.....
Kearyn Jaedance Gressman was born
May 31, 2010 at 9:00am.
She weighed 6 pounds 13 ounces
and was 18 1/4 inches long.
Within 20 minutes there were over 20 people in our hospital room. That day over 75 people came to see the long awaited for baby Gressman. I had no idea how many people had been praying right along with us for her healthy and safe arrival. I will never forget that day. Not just because it is her birthday but because of all of the people who joined us in the celebration of our little miracle.
Stay tuned for more of Kearyn's story.....
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Kearyn's Story....Part 2
For those of you just reading for the first time or at least reading about Kearyn for the first time I just wanted to give you a little background. Kearyn is our 6 month old little girl. Up until now, I have not posted much about her. There is just so much emotion that comes forward when I try to put what a blessing she has been to our family into words. I am now making the attempt with anticipation of falling very short. If you would like to read the first two posts you can select the links below:
Kearyn's Story....Part 2
Previously I shared the events that happened for us to make the decision to try for another baby. After the loss of our son this was not an easy decision and one that required a great deal of prayer. Finally my husband and I agreed that this was indeed what God wanted for us.
It didn't take long for us to conceive. I remember reading the pregnancy test and I actually had this sinking feeling in my heart. Can I really do this? What if I lose this baby too? I know the saying well, "God will never give you more than you can handle," but that was not real to me at the time. I just knew I could not survive anymore loss. I was still grieving for my son and to lose another one would have been more than I could bare.
Walking through her pregnancy was difficult. In fact, I actually don't remember a lot of it. It was kind of a blur as I really was just going through the motions of life. I just couldn't wait to get to the next stage or the next milestone, and because of that I never really enjoyed the current one that I was in. I couldn't wait until I could feel her move. Each kick, roll, and back-flip I would relish because that meant she was okay. At least for that moment I knew she was okay and that is what would get me through to the next moment.
Even though this should have been a time of joy for me, there was actually a lot of darkness. There were days that I would just spend the entire day in prayer begging God to keep her safe. I repeatedly asked for His protection over her and to keep her from any harm. I begged him to just keep her here with me.
I felt like I could barely function normally. Of course, I never communicated my struggles with anyone else with exception to my husband and I don't even know if he realized how much I was struggling. Maybe he did, I don't know. This made things even harder. Everyone expected me to be "normal" and in some ways, beyond normal. They expected me to have that "pregnancy glow" about me. After all, what did I have to be sad about. I was expecting baby, what more did I want. They had no idea the day-to-day agony that I went through just waiting for my baby girl to arrive.
With each doctor's visit I would hold my breath while they found her heartbeat. With each ultrasound I would anxiously search for her heartbeat. Thank God that I had a very patient doctor and his staff was equally wonderful. If it weren't for their reassurances and just openness for me to come in whenever I needed to I don't know what I would have done.
About half way through our pregnancy we did find out that we were expecting a baby girl. It seemed like everyone's focus shifted to the fact that we were finally having a girl after three boys. I can tell you though that I really didn't care whether she was a boy or a girl as long as she was going to be in my arms and healthy.
Finally, I came to the end of my pregnancy. I wasn't due until June 11, 2010 but I knew she would come early as all of my children have. As time ticked on we still had some trials ahead of us. I ended up getting very sick the beginning of May and ended up in the hospital. Then a week or so later my husband got extremely ill as well. This was only two weeks before her birth. We were desperately trying to finish things up in preparation for her arrival as we had just purchased a new home a couple of months before. With Jason being as sick as he was for as long as he was it did add a lot of stress to the mix. It was so close to her birth that I was wondering if he would in fact be better by the time that she was born. He ended up losing 25 pounds in 9 days but God graciously placed a hand of healing over my husband and he did get well in time for Kearyn's birth. The birth of our precious baby girl. To hear about that stay tuned for more of her story. Kearyn's story....
Monday, December 6, 2010
Subscribe to Receive Email Updates!!!
So, I am really getting into this "blogging" thing. :-) I just figured out how to allow my readers to subscribe to receive email updates of my most recent postings. Not sure if anyone out there on the planet would ever be interested in receiving updates but I still thought it was cool that I figured it out!
Here you go!!!
Here you go!!!
November 2010
Well, we are another month closer to the end of 2010. So hard to believe! This was another great month full of blessings. I am sure I am going to miss some of them but here we go anyway! :-)
As I recently posted, Jason's birthday was November 30th. (You can read this post here.) This is the last of the Gressman family birthdays until Kearyn girl's birthday in May. (I don't even want to think about hers yet!)
Kearyn in now 6 months old. Cannot believe that at all! Time is just flying by with her. Everyday I feel like I still have to remind myself that I have a fourth baby now AND it is a girl! Everyday we get up and get to pick out cute outfits and hairbows (something totally foreign and unknown to me before) and I am just loving it. I think I have done a pretty good job about making her look "girly" and not "tom-boyish" as I think some thought I would. But it has been a blast and I have loved every minute of it.
November represented a month of rest as Cale was between volleyball and basketball season. That was kind of nice on mom and dad's taxi service but we have fired up the Suburban once again this week to get him to practices. He is finding that he in now in the "big leagues" as far as basketball is concerned and there is a LOT more running. Mom tried to warn him...."Cale, you will have to run and it is going to hurt but you can do it." Yeah, that was my big pep talk. May need to work on that a bit in the future. :-)
Ky is doing great especially now that he is 5 as of October 30th. We are pretty much full force into kindergarten (the great thing about homeschooling, you don't have to go by those pesky birthday cut-off dates.) He is really really doing well especially for not really loving the whole "academic" side of things. But he is flying through his books so that is neat to see.
Creidey Bear Jaxton, as he has been calling himself lately, is learning right along with his big brother. It is kind of a two for one deal with the whole schooling thing. I teach Ky once and Creide is right there to learn too. He constantly wants his own school work to do so that has been fun as well.
We started painting the inside of our house as well. Yes, most people do that kind of thing in the spring or summer but we Gressman's like to live on the wild side. I will be posting pictures but I will give you a clue as to one of my living room colors. Olive Grove.....love it!!!! :-)
Jason delivered a great message on "Isolation" the weekend service after Thanksgiving. Yes, I am a little partial I know but I thought he did a great job. I will hopefully be posting the link here soon so you can listen for yourselves if you missed it. :-)
I did decorate another wedding this month as well (same weekend as Jason preached so it was a busy weekend!) It was a great wedding. Congrats Steph & Ryan! (I will try to post pictures of that soon as well.)
Anyway, I know I am forgetting some stuff. I will add if I think of something. Thanks for reading and I hope you are all enjoying my random ramblings! :-)
As I recently posted, Jason's birthday was November 30th. (You can read this post here.) This is the last of the Gressman family birthdays until Kearyn girl's birthday in May. (I don't even want to think about hers yet!)
Kearyn in now 6 months old. Cannot believe that at all! Time is just flying by with her. Everyday I feel like I still have to remind myself that I have a fourth baby now AND it is a girl! Everyday we get up and get to pick out cute outfits and hairbows (something totally foreign and unknown to me before) and I am just loving it. I think I have done a pretty good job about making her look "girly" and not "tom-boyish" as I think some thought I would. But it has been a blast and I have loved every minute of it.
November represented a month of rest as Cale was between volleyball and basketball season. That was kind of nice on mom and dad's taxi service but we have fired up the Suburban once again this week to get him to practices. He is finding that he in now in the "big leagues" as far as basketball is concerned and there is a LOT more running. Mom tried to warn him...."Cale, you will have to run and it is going to hurt but you can do it." Yeah, that was my big pep talk. May need to work on that a bit in the future. :-)
Ky is doing great especially now that he is 5 as of October 30th. We are pretty much full force into kindergarten (the great thing about homeschooling, you don't have to go by those pesky birthday cut-off dates.) He is really really doing well especially for not really loving the whole "academic" side of things. But he is flying through his books so that is neat to see.
Creidey Bear Jaxton, as he has been calling himself lately, is learning right along with his big brother. It is kind of a two for one deal with the whole schooling thing. I teach Ky once and Creide is right there to learn too. He constantly wants his own school work to do so that has been fun as well.
We started painting the inside of our house as well. Yes, most people do that kind of thing in the spring or summer but we Gressman's like to live on the wild side. I will be posting pictures but I will give you a clue as to one of my living room colors. Olive Grove.....love it!!!! :-)
Jason delivered a great message on "Isolation" the weekend service after Thanksgiving. Yes, I am a little partial I know but I thought he did a great job. I will hopefully be posting the link here soon so you can listen for yourselves if you missed it. :-)
I did decorate another wedding this month as well (same weekend as Jason preached so it was a busy weekend!) It was a great wedding. Congrats Steph & Ryan! (I will try to post pictures of that soon as well.)
Anyway, I know I am forgetting some stuff. I will add if I think of something. Thanks for reading and I hope you are all enjoying my random ramblings! :-)
Kearyn's Story....Part 1
Most of our friends and family know the struggles that we have gone through having our four children. I have not hid the fact that we have lost 5 babies due to miscarriage and the pain that we have experienced through those losses. Many of you were there when we lost our little boy last year half way through my pregnancy and witnessed and even experienced some of the heartache that we went through. Many of you may be asking yourself at this very moment what this has to do with Kearyn as this is suppose to be her story. A story of joy and laughter not one of such heartache. My answer to you....everything.
I am often asked why we didn't give up on having our children. Why we didn't stop trying after our second, third or fourth miscarriage. My answer....God didn't let me. I tried to give up, I really did. There was a point where I said that I could not take anymore heartache and that I was done. I remember having that very conversation with Jason, my husband, as if it were yesterday. I told him that we were very blessed to have ours son, Cale, and that he would probably be the most spoiled child on the planet but he was our blessing and I was going to cherish every minute that I could with him. A few months later I surprisingly found out I was expecting Ky, our second son. Twenty-two months after Ky was born we had Creide, our third son.
When I found out I was expecting our fourth son in February 2009 our heads were spinning a little but we had a great deal of joy in our hearts. When we lost him my world was rocked to say the least. I found myself in such a dark place of grief and sadness. A despair that I had never known before. I had let my guard down. We were well past the first trimester. I had allowed myself to fall deeply in love with this baby and then so suddenly he was gone....
To make things even worse I had physical complications that went along with the loss and it was the only time in my life where I truly wondered if I was going to make it. I remember praying to God over and over that he keep me here for my boys. God was faithful and kept me here for my boys. It took me four months to recover physically but much longer to recover emotionally. (I am not sure if that is a journey that I will ever actually complete to be honest with you.)
Then there was that whisper I began to hear once again. A whisper from deep in my heart. A promise that God had placed there years and years before. A promise that I would have four children. As we read in Isaiah 7 about the promise of the birth of Jesus it was like He wrote his promise to me to have my four children just as clearly in my heart. I just kept feeling this tug to try again, try again, try again. But every time I would talk to my husband about this he was not so agreeable. You see, he was the one that had to scoop me up that night and rush me to the hospital. He was the one left waiting in the waiting room as they took me back to the operating room. As I was put under he was very much awake. He not only lost his baby that night but he had so nearly lost his wife as well and he did not want to risk that again.
But as time went on God spoke into his heart as well and he agreed to try one more time. That was only the beginning of this journey. The beginning of this story. Kearyn's story.....
Stay tuned for Part 2 of our precious baby girl's story....
I am often asked why we didn't give up on having our children. Why we didn't stop trying after our second, third or fourth miscarriage. My answer....God didn't let me. I tried to give up, I really did. There was a point where I said that I could not take anymore heartache and that I was done. I remember having that very conversation with Jason, my husband, as if it were yesterday. I told him that we were very blessed to have ours son, Cale, and that he would probably be the most spoiled child on the planet but he was our blessing and I was going to cherish every minute that I could with him. A few months later I surprisingly found out I was expecting Ky, our second son. Twenty-two months after Ky was born we had Creide, our third son.
When I found out I was expecting our fourth son in February 2009 our heads were spinning a little but we had a great deal of joy in our hearts. When we lost him my world was rocked to say the least. I found myself in such a dark place of grief and sadness. A despair that I had never known before. I had let my guard down. We were well past the first trimester. I had allowed myself to fall deeply in love with this baby and then so suddenly he was gone....
To make things even worse I had physical complications that went along with the loss and it was the only time in my life where I truly wondered if I was going to make it. I remember praying to God over and over that he keep me here for my boys. God was faithful and kept me here for my boys. It took me four months to recover physically but much longer to recover emotionally. (I am not sure if that is a journey that I will ever actually complete to be honest with you.)
Then there was that whisper I began to hear once again. A whisper from deep in my heart. A promise that God had placed there years and years before. A promise that I would have four children. As we read in Isaiah 7 about the promise of the birth of Jesus it was like He wrote his promise to me to have my four children just as clearly in my heart. I just kept feeling this tug to try again, try again, try again. But every time I would talk to my husband about this he was not so agreeable. You see, he was the one that had to scoop me up that night and rush me to the hospital. He was the one left waiting in the waiting room as they took me back to the operating room. As I was put under he was very much awake. He not only lost his baby that night but he had so nearly lost his wife as well and he did not want to risk that again.
But as time went on God spoke into his heart as well and he agreed to try one more time. That was only the beginning of this journey. The beginning of this story. Kearyn's story.....
Stay tuned for Part 2 of our precious baby girl's story....
Kearyn Jaedance Gressman
May 31, 2010
Kearyn's Story....
For those of you who read this blog regularly you have probably noticed that I haven't written that much about my baby girl, Kearyn. I actually have individual postings dedicated to each of my boys but I have not posted one for Kearyn until now. It isn't that I haven't written about her. I have written a lot about her privately but for whatever reason I just wasn't ready to publicly post anything.
Even as I write this now I struggle for the words. For those of you who know me know I don't struggle with words very often. I can write about the silliest or most simple things forever yet when it comes to my fourth child, my only daughter, I find that the words don't come as easily. I get choked up somewhere. I now realize it isn't because there aren't the words, instead, there are too many emotions that come forward when I think of Kearyn.
Kearyn Jaedance Gressman
May 31, 2010
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Top 10 November Posts.....
I thought it would be fun to list the Top 10 most popular posts for the month of November....
10.) Creide - Everyone likes to read about this fiery Gressman boy!
9.) Cale's 11th Birthday - Pictures of Cale on his birthday August 9th. I know, way overdue!
8.) Happy Birthday Jason... - Okay, so this was technically posted in December but his birthday was November 30th. And even though I just posted it a little while ago a ton of people had already looked at it so I let it slide in there.
7.) Pregnancy & Infant Loss Remembrance Day - October 15, 2010 - So this was a sad but good day. Thanks for your support in reading about this as it is a topic that is very close to my heart.
6.) The Candy Cake - I so love how this one turned out! I am hoping to post pictures and how-to's of more of the projects I am completing this month! :-)
5.) Praying in Public - A cute little story that we should all read.
4.) Gressman Family Fun - Pictures, pictures and more pictures of the boys being boys!
3.) Ky & Creide - More pictures....
2.) The Temper Tantrum - a little devotional I wrote.
And the #1.....drum roll please.....
1.) Jason....the youth pastor You guessed it! It was the most popular post for the month of November. LOL!
10.) Creide - Everyone likes to read about this fiery Gressman boy!
9.) Cale's 11th Birthday - Pictures of Cale on his birthday August 9th. I know, way overdue!
8.) Happy Birthday Jason... - Okay, so this was technically posted in December but his birthday was November 30th. And even though I just posted it a little while ago a ton of people had already looked at it so I let it slide in there.
7.) Pregnancy & Infant Loss Remembrance Day - October 15, 2010 - So this was a sad but good day. Thanks for your support in reading about this as it is a topic that is very close to my heart.
6.) The Candy Cake - I so love how this one turned out! I am hoping to post pictures and how-to's of more of the projects I am completing this month! :-)
5.) Praying in Public - A cute little story that we should all read.
4.) Gressman Family Fun - Pictures, pictures and more pictures of the boys being boys!
3.) Ky & Creide - More pictures....
2.) The Temper Tantrum - a little devotional I wrote.
And the #1.....drum roll please.....
1.) Jason....the youth pastor You guessed it! It was the most popular post for the month of November. LOL!
Happy Birthday Jason.....
Yesterday was Jason's birthday. I have to tell you that I had so much fun planning his special day. I love birthdays so much because it is just a great opportunity to show that person how much they mean to you and this was no exception.
We love Jason dearly as he is the most amazing husband and father that we could have ever asked for. God truly blesses us every day with his presence in our lives and our home. I was just telling Cale the other day as we were having one of our "heart to hearts" that if he grew up to be just like his dad he would be just fine in life. :-)
Jason does an incredible job of modeling to our boys what a Godly man, loving husband, and engaged father is suppose to look like. He is just amazing and there are no words to describe how much we love him.
With that being said I wanted to create a special birthday present for Jason. Something that would combine the things that he loved and most importantly something that couldn't be purchased in a store. So, I put this together in a frame for him that will soon find its home in his office. (If you happen to stop by there you can take a look.)
This is Jason's favorite scripture by the way. If you are one of his youth group kids you already know that! :-)
We love Jason dearly as he is the most amazing husband and father that we could have ever asked for. God truly blesses us every day with his presence in our lives and our home. I was just telling Cale the other day as we were having one of our "heart to hearts" that if he grew up to be just like his dad he would be just fine in life. :-)
Jason does an incredible job of modeling to our boys what a Godly man, loving husband, and engaged father is suppose to look like. He is just amazing and there are no words to describe how much we love him.
With that being said I wanted to create a special birthday present for Jason. Something that would combine the things that he loved and most importantly something that couldn't be purchased in a store. So, I put this together in a frame for him that will soon find its home in his office. (If you happen to stop by there you can take a look.)
This is Jason's favorite scripture by the way. If you are one of his youth group kids you already know that! :-)
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
The Candy Cake....
13 years ago today my littlest sister was born. The other day she was over at the house and she saw one of my candy bouquets and made a comment that she would like one of those for her birthday. She said something like, "Hey, I would like one of those with just a ton of candy coming out all over it." So, as usual, this got me to thinking...... I have been wanting to do a "candy cake" for the longest time. (It really isn't a cake, it is just a bunch of candy arranged to look like a cake, just for clarification.) I wanted it to be pretty big as turning 13 is a pretty big deal and I wanted it to have lots of PINK! (That is my sister's favorite color.)
This is what I came up with.....
This is what I came up with.....
The Candy Cake
I thought it turned out cute! I hope she likes it :-).
Monday, November 22, 2010
October 2010
Hi all! So I totally realize how far behind that I am. I started this posting the first week of November and for whatever reason didn't finish it. I was browsing through all of my "on hold" blogs and saw this one still un-posted and it looked very lonely :-). I was tempted to delete it but realized that I HAD written several paragraphs already so I decided not to waste it. :-) So, here it is....
Another month down in the wonderful year of 2010. We have had such an exciting year that I just want to take a few moments to record some thoughts, events, and really just whatever about this past month! My goal is to do this for each month from here on out but I have a lot of thoughts and ideas that I currently am writing about and hoping to post soon so I am not sure if that is an attainable goal or not.
The month of October marked our 2nd son's 5th birthday on October 30th. This was a very exciting time for us. We can't believe that he is 5 now and it is so very bitter sweet. Sad because he is just growing so fast but oh so sweet because he is doing so many wonderful and amazing things and I just really like the person that he is becoming. He is such a blessing and I just feel so honored that God chose me to be his mommy! (Will be posting about his birthday celebration shortly.)
We also gained a new family member this month in celebration to Ky's 5th birthday. We actually adopted another four legged friend from the local pound. He is a yellow lab, around a year old, and is so sweet. A perfect addition to our family. Ky named him Fletcher and he is quickly adjusting to the busyness of the Gressman household. A perfect place for an energetic puppy!
This month seemed to be marked with a lot of bitter sweets. At the beginning of the month we had to say goodbye to the pastor of our church which was heartbreaking as we will miss him so much. I do not think he will ever know how God has used him in my life, my husband's life, and the lives of our children. We don't know how we would even be close to where we are today without his wisdom, love and support. The sweet side of this is kind of two-fold. We deeply respect our former pastor and know that he is following God's will and that is exciting for us to see. Secondly, we have gained an incredible new pastor that Jason and I deeply respect and many times are just left in awe of his character and values. He is an amazing man and we can't wait to see how God uses him.
Another bitter/sweet, October 15th marked the Infant and Pregnancy Loss Remembrance Day. This is something that Jason and I are too familiar with unfortunately. I was asked by a dear sweet lady that coordinated the very first candlelight ceremony in our town in honor of this day to actually come and share some of my poetry as well as a few words about what we have gone through. (To read more about that go here.) It is a topic that is very close to my heart and I continually pray that God is able to use me to help someone else that may be traveling this very difficult path in their own life. I have a few more pieces that I have been working on regarding this topic so I will save my words for those.
Another month behind us in 2010 as the holidays approach. We are excited to make new memories this year with our family and friends. God bless you all and we can't wait to continue to share. :-)
Another month down in the wonderful year of 2010. We have had such an exciting year that I just want to take a few moments to record some thoughts, events, and really just whatever about this past month! My goal is to do this for each month from here on out but I have a lot of thoughts and ideas that I currently am writing about and hoping to post soon so I am not sure if that is an attainable goal or not.
The month of October marked our 2nd son's 5th birthday on October 30th. This was a very exciting time for us. We can't believe that he is 5 now and it is so very bitter sweet. Sad because he is just growing so fast but oh so sweet because he is doing so many wonderful and amazing things and I just really like the person that he is becoming. He is such a blessing and I just feel so honored that God chose me to be his mommy! (Will be posting about his birthday celebration shortly.)
We also gained a new family member this month in celebration to Ky's 5th birthday. We actually adopted another four legged friend from the local pound. He is a yellow lab, around a year old, and is so sweet. A perfect addition to our family. Ky named him Fletcher and he is quickly adjusting to the busyness of the Gressman household. A perfect place for an energetic puppy!
This month seemed to be marked with a lot of bitter sweets. At the beginning of the month we had to say goodbye to the pastor of our church which was heartbreaking as we will miss him so much. I do not think he will ever know how God has used him in my life, my husband's life, and the lives of our children. We don't know how we would even be close to where we are today without his wisdom, love and support. The sweet side of this is kind of two-fold. We deeply respect our former pastor and know that he is following God's will and that is exciting for us to see. Secondly, we have gained an incredible new pastor that Jason and I deeply respect and many times are just left in awe of his character and values. He is an amazing man and we can't wait to see how God uses him.
Another bitter/sweet, October 15th marked the Infant and Pregnancy Loss Remembrance Day. This is something that Jason and I are too familiar with unfortunately. I was asked by a dear sweet lady that coordinated the very first candlelight ceremony in our town in honor of this day to actually come and share some of my poetry as well as a few words about what we have gone through. (To read more about that go here.) It is a topic that is very close to my heart and I continually pray that God is able to use me to help someone else that may be traveling this very difficult path in their own life. I have a few more pieces that I have been working on regarding this topic so I will save my words for those.
Another month behind us in 2010 as the holidays approach. We are excited to make new memories this year with our family and friends. God bless you all and we can't wait to continue to share. :-)
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Dear Jason....
I am writing this to you as we have been apart this weekend and I am missing you dearly. I just finished a "chic flick" as you so eloquently call them and was reminded yet again why I don't watch these types of movies when you are not here. I just end up missing you so much more. It doesn't matter what the leading actor says or does I just think about you and how amazing it has been to be married to you all these years. I am forever grateful that I don't live in the drama that the leading ladies always seem to find themselves in. :-)
I know our life isn't for everyone and doesn't make sense to most but it is our life and I am honored to be called your wife. I know there are times it seems like it is crazy and we have too much to do but at the end of the day I so look forward to spending that time with you and our precious four children in the home that we have created. It has been the most amazing adventure knowing that I am married to the one God intended for me to be with. It is just a joy to do life with you as He has called us to do it. I pray that our children find someone that loves them as you have loved me because you do love me well.
I am missing you here and eagerly awaiting your return. Only a few hours more.
Your Loving Wife,
Andrea
I know our life isn't for everyone and doesn't make sense to most but it is our life and I am honored to be called your wife. I know there are times it seems like it is crazy and we have too much to do but at the end of the day I so look forward to spending that time with you and our precious four children in the home that we have created. It has been the most amazing adventure knowing that I am married to the one God intended for me to be with. It is just a joy to do life with you as He has called us to do it. I pray that our children find someone that loves them as you have loved me because you do love me well.
I am missing you here and eagerly awaiting your return. Only a few hours more.
Your Loving Wife,
Andrea
Thursday, November 18, 2010
the gressman four....
I think there is a point with the addition of each child that I have said to myself...."Wow, I have X number of kids now..." You just get so use to taking care of one child, then two, then three that when you add another one there is a bit of an adjustment period. These are the first pictures I remember taking of all four of my children together. And let me tell you it was quite interesting as you can probably tell from the pictures! ;-) (And these are only about half of the pictures taken! :-)
I have always dreamed of having four children. I believe that it was a promise placed in my heart long ago by God himself. This promise was what got me through all of the hard times and all of the losses. Don't get me wrong, there were several times when I did just want to give up but as I stare at the faces of my four beautiful children I thank God with all that I am that I did NOT give up. I can't imagine living my life not knowing each of these precious little ones that God has so graciously blessed me with. Thank you God for my Cale, my Ky, my Creide, and my Kearyn.
I have always dreamed of having four children. I believe that it was a promise placed in my heart long ago by God himself. This promise was what got me through all of the hard times and all of the losses. Don't get me wrong, there were several times when I did just want to give up but as I stare at the faces of my four beautiful children I thank God with all that I am that I did NOT give up. I can't imagine living my life not knowing each of these precious little ones that God has so graciously blessed me with. Thank you God for my Cale, my Ky, my Creide, and my Kearyn.
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| Free collage customized with Smilebox |
Stay tuned for more conversation on the adjustment to having four children....
Monday, November 15, 2010
ky & creide....
These were taken at the Ouray Hot Springs on Cale's birthday. Just thought I would share the pictures...
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| This digital collage created with Smilebox |
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Praying in Public....
My mother-in-law actually passed on the following story to me and I thought I would share it. We always pray at mealtime even if we are at a restaurant and one of the boys almost always prays for us. I am sure I wouldn't be too happy if someone did this to one of my kids. Fortunately, we usually receive a favorable reaction from those who overhear my children praying. Anyway, I thought I would pass this on and see what you all thought of it....
THE STORY BEGINS....
Last week, I took my grand-children to a restaurant. My six-year-old grand-son asked if he could say grace.
As we bowed our heads he said, "God is good, God is great. Thank you for the food, and I would even thank you more if Nana gets us ice cream for dessert.. And liberty and justice for all! Amen!"
Along with the laughter from the other customers nearby, I heard a woman remark, "That's what's wrong with this country. Kids today don't even know how to pray. Asking God for ice cream! Why, I never!"
Hearing this, my grand-son burst into tears and asked me, "Did I do it wrong? Is God mad at me?"
As I held him and assured him that he had done a terrific job, and God was certainly not mad at him, an elderly gentleman approached the table.
He winked at my grand-son and said, "I happen to know that God thought that was a great prayer."
"Really?" my grand-son asked.
"Cross my heart," the man replied.
Then, in a theatrical whisper, he added (indicating the woman whose remark had started this whole thing), "Too bad she never asks God for ice cream. A little ice cream is good for the soul sometimes."
Naturally, I bought my grand-children ice cream at the end of the meal. My grand-son stared at his for a moment, and then did something I will remember the rest of my life.
He picked up his sundae and, without a word, walked over and placed it in front of the woman. With a big smile he told her, "Here, this is for you. Ice cream is good for the soul sometimes; and my soul is good already."
The End
THE STORY BEGINS....
Last week, I took my grand-children to a restaurant. My six-year-old grand-son asked if he could say grace.
As we bowed our heads he said, "God is good, God is great. Thank you for the food, and I would even thank you more if Nana gets us ice cream for dessert.. And liberty and justice for all! Amen!"
Along with the laughter from the other customers nearby, I heard a woman remark, "That's what's wrong with this country. Kids today don't even know how to pray. Asking God for ice cream! Why, I never!"
Hearing this, my grand-son burst into tears and asked me, "Did I do it wrong? Is God mad at me?"
As I held him and assured him that he had done a terrific job, and God was certainly not mad at him, an elderly gentleman approached the table.
He winked at my grand-son and said, "I happen to know that God thought that was a great prayer."
"Really?" my grand-son asked.
"Cross my heart," the man replied.
Then, in a theatrical whisper, he added (indicating the woman whose remark had started this whole thing), "Too bad she never asks God for ice cream. A little ice cream is good for the soul sometimes."
Naturally, I bought my grand-children ice cream at the end of the meal. My grand-son stared at his for a moment, and then did something I will remember the rest of my life.
He picked up his sundae and, without a word, walked over and placed it in front of the woman. With a big smile he told her, "Here, this is for you. Ice cream is good for the soul sometimes; and my soul is good already."
The End
Cale's 11th Birthday...
So, I am a bit behind on my pictures but here are some from Cale's birthday. Enjoy!
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| This free digital collage made with Smilebox |
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Gressman Family Fun...
One of the things that we love to do as a family is go for walks and hikes as a family. It is great to get outside, stretch our legs and discover great treasures that the boys always seem to discover. The boys are so much fun to watch when they are doing their thing. Here are a few casual pictures Jason took on one of our walks/hikes.
Good times!
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| This free digital collage made with Smilebox |
Good times!
Jason....the youth pastor
So, I just wanted to post some pictures of Jason to let you know what his job really consists of. It is a lot of really hard work as you will see.....
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| Free picture collage personalized with Smilebox |
Pretty rough I know.....Sometimes I wonder how he makes it through his days. ;-)
This was actually taken on a dodgeball night. (Yes people, and by people I mean adults, do still play dodgeball. And yes, it is a sport!)
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Cale & Creide
Being that it is getting close to the holidays I have been going through a ton of pictures. I love looking at pictures. It brings back so many wonderful memories. Here are just a couple of candid shots that I found of Cale and Creide that I wanted to share. Love my boys so very much!
Stay tuned for more.... :-)
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Stay tuned for more.... :-)
The Temper Tantrum
Recently I was attempting to reason with my 2 year old (now 3 year old) when he decided that all negotiations were off and threw himself in the floor to begin a temper tantrum. It doesn’t seem to matter how many times he does this I still get irritated. He is our third child and I don’t seem to remember our first two children engaging in such behavior as frequently as our third son.
I know for a fact that my first son only threw two tantrums in his toddler years and I know that my second son threw a few more then that but it didn’t seem to be as many as our third baby boy has participated in. We have always said that our third son is the most dramatic one of the bunch so I guess that tantrums fit in with that part of his personality.
This time as he began the tantrum process I just watched him instead of going right into discipline mode. It made me think of us as the human race. It made me think of myself as an individual, our family, our church body and so on down the line. I began to think of how many times I have not gotten “my way” and thrown a tantrum. Sure, I didn’t get down in the floor, kick and scream and carry on but I started to really think about my heart condition. How many times have I “pouted” before God because I simply did not get my way?!?
I thought of the tantrums that my children have thrown. In my heart as their parent I was restricting them from something that would be harmful to them in some way. Sometimes they could potentially harm themselves physically, sometimes character-wise, and sometimes something even more serious such as spiritual damage. As a parent, I was trying to keep my child safe from something. So, why cannot we give that same trust to our own Heavenly Father who is far more intelligent then we can ever dream to be. How come it is that we don’t trust the one that knows the past, future, and present? If we had that same kind of insight how would that change the way we disciplined our children?
As I watched my two year old continue his tantrum I tried to think of what this looks like through God’s eyes. How patient and loving our Father is to allow each of us to go through our own personal “tantrums” sometimes multiple times a day! Oh praise God for his patience and wisdom. Praise Him for not becoming agitated as I do when my own children act in such a way. I couldn't help but to think of the following scripture....
"because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.” Hebrews 12:6"My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline,
and do not resent his rebuke, because the LORD disciplines those he loves,
as a father the son he delights in." Proverbs 3: 11-12
Memories 1 and 2.....finally here!
So, for all of you who were wondering what happened to the ten part series on my memories of Ky, I am so very sorry. Some of you may know but we were all sick and had been sick for about two weeks and with three days to go until Ky's birthday my body just kind of gave out and I needed sleep! So, I ended up going to bed extremely early for about three days straight in order to be up and around during Ky's birthday. Being that I am a night owl that is when I do most of my writing so my writing just didn't get done.
We are all doing better now. There is still an occasional cough and a sore throat here and there but we are doing far better then we were for a while there.
On to complete the 10 part series......
For those of you who were not reading along, Ky's 5th birthday was October 30th. With 10 days to go I decided I would write about my 10 favorite memories of my sweet boy. I completed all the way through memory number 3 before my fatigue caught up with me. So, here are memories number 2 and number 1.
Memory #2....
One of my favorite things is when the boys decide to dress themselves. It is always when their own individual personalities come out. One of the best times is when he decided to wear his mud boots to Wal-mart on a perfectly sunny day! :-)
Love this!
My #1 memory....
Ky is all boy. Yet, he has a softer side to him as well. He absolutely loves animals and he absolutely loves babies. This really came out when we were expecting our little girl, Kearyn. He just couldn't wait for her to arrive. He was the first one of his brothers to snatch her up in the hospital and from the moment we brought her home he was constantly wanting to hold her. I remember her just being a couple of days old and he was holding her sitting next to me on my bed. He looked down at her and then up at me and said, "Mommy, I'm her tector (protector)." My heart melted. "Yes you are Ky.....yes you are."
My #1 memory....
Ky is all boy. Yet, he has a softer side to him as well. He absolutely loves animals and he absolutely loves babies. This really came out when we were expecting our little girl, Kearyn. He just couldn't wait for her to arrive. He was the first one of his brothers to snatch her up in the hospital and from the moment we brought her home he was constantly wanting to hold her. I remember her just being a couple of days old and he was holding her sitting next to me on my bed. He looked down at her and then up at me and said, "Mommy, I'm her tector (protector)." My heart melted. "Yes you are Ky.....yes you are."
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Pregnancy & Infant Loss Remembrance Day - October 15, 2010
October 15, 2010 marked the annual Pregnancy & Infant Loss Remembrance Day. I was asked by a dear sweet lady to participate in this event by sharing my story and some of my poetry that I wrote at the first candlelight ceremony held in our community in honor of this event. This is something that I felt and still feel very called to do. This experience was completely overwhelming for me and truly humbling. I am so thankful for the opportunity that I was given.
My husband and I have experienced a tremendous amount of heartache in this area of our lives and it is my heart to reach out and be there for others that may be walking through something like this themselves. I have lost 5 babies due to miscarriage. I know all too well the heartache that goes along with this. How you feel like your hopes and dreams are being shattered and the helplessness you feel because there is nothing you can do to stop it. I know what it feels like to want to give up, to finally give up, and then...somehow....someway you find the strength to go on. You find the courage to walk by faith once again. I know what it is like to not understand why and ask the question, "Why me?"
I look back now and often wonder how I got through it. It was definitely not on my own that is for sure. Then I think of that wonderful poem, "Footprints in the Sand" and I realize that this was truly when God was carrying me.
My heart goes out to all of those who have walked or may be walking through something like this now. I pray for you all continually. It is my prayer that you never give up hope and continually seek our Heavenly Father. God bless you all and the little ones that are no longer with us.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
3 days to 5....
The big day is getting close now. Only 3 more "sleeps" until our little boy turns 5. Hard to believe that it can go by as fast as it does. I decided when there were 10 days to go until Ky's birthday that I would take the next 10 days and walk down memory lane. I would pick 1 memory each day and record it here on our family blog. This has been such a fun process. I have really enjoyed it.
Today I will be sharing memory #3....
As a mom of 3 boys I take it very seriouly that I am raising up soon to be men. Don't get me wrong, I do not want them to grow up too fast and I want to cherish these days of small but I know that despite how hard I try to prevent it, they are still going to grow up. I want them to be good men, Godly men. I want them to be the leaders of their households and to be gentleman. The list goes on and on for what I hope they become. I am so thankful that God has given my boys such a wonderful father to model these Godly traits to these sweet princes of mine. He does a phenomenal job and I know we are blessed.
But I know I have my role too. I have to, in so many ways, allow them to be the young men that God has called them to be right now. Since their baby sister and I are the main girls in their lives we have to allow them to treat us as God has called them to and they essentially get to practice on us so that when they find the bride that God has called them to share their life with they are really good at it. :-)
Often times this means allowing my 4 year old to hold the door open for me even if it is easier to get it myself. Allowing all 3 boys to help hall the groceries in even if it means that my 3 year old swishes the bread a bit. What I have learned from being a boys mom exclusively up until 5 months ago is that these traits, this behavior, comes very naturally if you let it. They will race to get the door for me and they go out of their way to meet their baby sister's needs. It has really been quite amazing to watch.
With that all being said, this reminds me of one of my favorite memories of my soon to be 5 year old. We were at the same family camp I wrote about a couple of days ago. There was another family there that had three girls. We were all at the main lodge area when it was time to turn in for the night. These 3 girls and their mom were going to be walking in the dark to their cabin which was one of the furthest away. They also had never been to the camp before so they weren't as familiar with things as we were. Ky immediatley saw the need and at 3 1/2 he offered to walk them to their cabin. It was so adorable! Not only did he walk them to their cabin but he walked them to their very front door and opened it for them! It was so adorable. I will never forget that night and my little gentleman.
Today I will be sharing memory #3....
As a mom of 3 boys I take it very seriouly that I am raising up soon to be men. Don't get me wrong, I do not want them to grow up too fast and I want to cherish these days of small but I know that despite how hard I try to prevent it, they are still going to grow up. I want them to be good men, Godly men. I want them to be the leaders of their households and to be gentleman. The list goes on and on for what I hope they become. I am so thankful that God has given my boys such a wonderful father to model these Godly traits to these sweet princes of mine. He does a phenomenal job and I know we are blessed.
But I know I have my role too. I have to, in so many ways, allow them to be the young men that God has called them to be right now. Since their baby sister and I are the main girls in their lives we have to allow them to treat us as God has called them to and they essentially get to practice on us so that when they find the bride that God has called them to share their life with they are really good at it. :-)
Often times this means allowing my 4 year old to hold the door open for me even if it is easier to get it myself. Allowing all 3 boys to help hall the groceries in even if it means that my 3 year old swishes the bread a bit. What I have learned from being a boys mom exclusively up until 5 months ago is that these traits, this behavior, comes very naturally if you let it. They will race to get the door for me and they go out of their way to meet their baby sister's needs. It has really been quite amazing to watch.
With that all being said, this reminds me of one of my favorite memories of my soon to be 5 year old. We were at the same family camp I wrote about a couple of days ago. There was another family there that had three girls. We were all at the main lodge area when it was time to turn in for the night. These 3 girls and their mom were going to be walking in the dark to their cabin which was one of the furthest away. They also had never been to the camp before so they weren't as familiar with things as we were. Ky immediatley saw the need and at 3 1/2 he offered to walk them to their cabin. It was so adorable! Not only did he walk them to their cabin but he walked them to their very front door and opened it for them! It was so adorable. I will never forget that night and my little gentleman.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
4 Days to 5...
Only 4 days to go until my 2nd son's 5th birthday and to celebrate this milestone I have been recording my top 10 memories of him. So here is memory #4....
With the recent weather turning on the cold side I can't help but to be reminded of his birth. My husband had just recently been transferred to Alaska where we packed up all of our belongings and with me being enormously pregnant we made the very long move. We had just moved into our house on October 7th and I was due on October 31st. Needless to say I was frantically trying to get everything unpacked and settled before our precious boy decided to arrive.
In the morning hours of October 30th I informed my hubbie that it was indeed time to go. We got all of our stuff together and our oldest son in the car and headed to the hospital. On the way in I have the bright idea that Jason should stop at Wal-matt and buy some magazines because you never really know how long these things will really take and I didn't want him to get bored. So he stopped. While he was in the store I had 3 massive contractions. I kept thinking what is taking so long. When I looked at the clock he had been in there less than 10 minutes. I then informed Jason that we should probably skip taking our oldest son to the babysitters and just go right to the hospital.
Upon arriving at the hospital I knew things were serious. They got me in a room and then left. I immediately told Jason to get a doctor in the room. He had to call 4 tines to get the doctor into the room. During that time our babysitter also came and got Cale. This proved to be in just in time. Within 10 minutes I delivered Ky. They had no
time for any kind of monitors or an I.V. He just arrived.
October 30, 2005 ~ 8lbs. 4oz. ~ 21 inches long
With the recent weather turning on the cold side I can't help but to be reminded of his birth. My husband had just recently been transferred to Alaska where we packed up all of our belongings and with me being enormously pregnant we made the very long move. We had just moved into our house on October 7th and I was due on October 31st. Needless to say I was frantically trying to get everything unpacked and settled before our precious boy decided to arrive.
In the morning hours of October 30th I informed my hubbie that it was indeed time to go. We got all of our stuff together and our oldest son in the car and headed to the hospital. On the way in I have the bright idea that Jason should stop at Wal-matt and buy some magazines because you never really know how long these things will really take and I didn't want him to get bored. So he stopped. While he was in the store I had 3 massive contractions. I kept thinking what is taking so long. When I looked at the clock he had been in there less than 10 minutes. I then informed Jason that we should probably skip taking our oldest son to the babysitters and just go right to the hospital.
Upon arriving at the hospital I knew things were serious. They got me in a room and then left. I immediately told Jason to get a doctor in the room. He had to call 4 tines to get the doctor into the room. During that time our babysitter also came and got Cale. This proved to be in just in time. Within 10 minutes I delivered Ky. They had no
time for any kind of monitors or an I.V. He just arrived.
October 30, 2005 ~ 8lbs. 4oz. ~ 21 inches long
Monday, October 25, 2010
5 days to 5....
The past 5 days I have been walking down memory lane remembering all of the wonderful things about our middle son, Ky, who is about to be 5 in 5 days. Be sure to go back and read days 10-6 if you have time.
For memory #5....
I keep remembering Ky as a little guy. Born Kylind James, named after two pastors (two of his great-grandpas) and boy was he awnery! This increased drastically after his baby brother was born.
Ky has these big blue eyes and at the time he had these amazing ringlets. I didn't cut his hair for the longest time because I didn't want them to go away which I got a ton of grief for because everyone said he looked like a girl. But they were so cute!
I am going to try to post some pictures of him when he was just a little guy. I know you will get as much of a kick out of them as I did. :-)
For memory #5....
I keep remembering Ky as a little guy. Born Kylind James, named after two pastors (two of his great-grandpas) and boy was he awnery! This increased drastically after his baby brother was born.
Ky has these big blue eyes and at the time he had these amazing ringlets. I didn't cut his hair for the longest time because I didn't want them to go away which I got a ton of grief for because everyone said he looked like a girl. But they were so cute!
I am going to try to post some pictures of him when he was just a little guy. I know you will get as much of a kick out of them as I did. :-)
Sunday, October 24, 2010
6 Days to 5....
For the past few days I have been recording memories of my soon to be 5 year old son, Ky, in honor of his upcoming birthday in 6 days. I can't tell you how much I have enjoyed this process. I love remembering all of the fun and wonderful things my son has done to touch our lives in the past 5 years. It has also inspired me to do something similar for my other children in the very near future so stay tuned....
As for memory #6....
Two summers ago we attended a family camp called Sonrise Family Ranch. If you have never been there GO! They have the most amazing ministry there and we make a point to get away to this amazing place at least once a year. It has been life changing for our family.
Anyway, we were attending another family camp and I noticed there were a couple of older boys there with their dad. Before I knew it, and not surprisingly, Ky had buddied himself up to the oldest boy, Josh. Well Josh was this kind of tough guy on the outside but as I began to watch how he dealt with my then 3 1/2 year old there was a gentleness about him. This 17 year old
boy had the patience of Job and spent hours fishing and giving him boat rides and whatever else Ky would dream up. I watched and studied from afar and really began to see Josh's heart through it all.
Ky, we have found, is a really good judge of charecter. I began to mention my observations to my husband who is a youth pastor. I remember telling him - there is just something about that young man. So Jason started to watch too. When we finished the family camp Josh started attending our youth group and we would invite him over to our house for other activities with the other youth group kids. More often then not I would find Josh hanging out with our boys playing video games or bouncing on our trampoline. Jason ended up inviting him on our mission trip just a few weeks later and he agreed to go. The first night we were there Josh gave his life to Christ. It was overwhelming to be a part of. Jason then had the honor of baptizing him in the ocean. It was truly amazing.
When I think about it all I know that God used Ky to touch that young man's heart. He used Ky to make sure my husband and I were paying attention. I don't know if we would have done things any differently if it weren't for Ky but I am glad we don't have to find out because I think it turned out pretty great
I don't know if Josh will ever read this but I hope he knows how much he means to our family. We love you "Big Josh" (as Ky affectionately calls him.) :-)
As for memory #6....
Two summers ago we attended a family camp called Sonrise Family Ranch. If you have never been there GO! They have the most amazing ministry there and we make a point to get away to this amazing place at least once a year. It has been life changing for our family.
Anyway, we were attending another family camp and I noticed there were a couple of older boys there with their dad. Before I knew it, and not surprisingly, Ky had buddied himself up to the oldest boy, Josh. Well Josh was this kind of tough guy on the outside but as I began to watch how he dealt with my then 3 1/2 year old there was a gentleness about him. This 17 year old
boy had the patience of Job and spent hours fishing and giving him boat rides and whatever else Ky would dream up. I watched and studied from afar and really began to see Josh's heart through it all.
Ky, we have found, is a really good judge of charecter. I began to mention my observations to my husband who is a youth pastor. I remember telling him - there is just something about that young man. So Jason started to watch too. When we finished the family camp Josh started attending our youth group and we would invite him over to our house for other activities with the other youth group kids. More often then not I would find Josh hanging out with our boys playing video games or bouncing on our trampoline. Jason ended up inviting him on our mission trip just a few weeks later and he agreed to go. The first night we were there Josh gave his life to Christ. It was overwhelming to be a part of. Jason then had the honor of baptizing him in the ocean. It was truly amazing.
When I think about it all I know that God used Ky to touch that young man's heart. He used Ky to make sure my husband and I were paying attention. I don't know if we would have done things any differently if it weren't for Ky but I am glad we don't have to find out because I think it turned out pretty great
I don't know if Josh will ever read this but I hope he knows how much he means to our family. We love you "Big Josh" (as Ky affectionately calls him.) :-)
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