Is our blog done for?

I have two kids now. A two yr old and a 3 wk old. I have also always been a pretty good blog updater. Will I continue to be as two kiddos consume my time and energy? i'm thinking I will become that blogger I once was after Piper starts sleeping through the night...maybe. I am on facebook, which is easier to upload pictures on my phone, and both sets of grandparents are now on facebook, so my blogging days may be over. Plus, we no longer live in New Mexico, so far from my family. So this blog may be done for. Kind of sad. I started this blog when we moved to Clovis in 2007. It has been a great way to journal our lives in Clovis, but now that we are back in Texas, it may be time to say goodbye to it. I dont think that many people read it anyways, because most people are on facebook nowadays and keep up with us that way.

So, dear blog of ours, we may to put you to rest. I'll see how I feel after Piper starts sleeping through the night.

happy fathers day to the best dad in the world

Tyler is such a great dad. Here are some things we love about him:

-He loves to play with Griffin and Griffin loves that he loves to. :)

-He helps me so much.

-He works hard to provide for our family and loves doing what he does.

-He loves the Lord and Gods' word and enjoys talking about these two things.

-He always tells us he loves us and assures us we are his priority over work or going to the gym. haha..

-He tells me I'm beautiful, even when I feel very unpretty.

-He teaches Griffin new things and enjoys it, being patient with Griffin, and letting him learn in his own timing.

-He laughs real easy, and we love his laugh! Griffin especially enjoys a good daddy laugh and mimics it, which is hilarious!

-He is an awesome Youth Minister and is passionate about students spiritual well being and knowledge of the word.

-He is the best dad in the world and loves being a dad in general.

We love you, Dad. Happy Father's Day 2011.

Piper's birth

Where do I begin? I guess at the beginning. :)

Last Friday, June 10th, Griffin and I were suppose to go to Austin to see some friends. He ended up having slight fever Thursday so I decided not to go Friday and just stay home with him. So that morning I began nesting. Which basically means "cleaning, organizing, getting ready for baby" . Tyler had been gone all week doing a youth camp in town, called Youth Week, with the youth group. Praise God the camp was local! So Friday afternoon I was putting Griffin down for his nap when the contractions began. I thought they were just minor and would go away, thinking to myself that Piper couldn't come this early, not during Youth Week. Well....the contractions continued all afternoon, being about 10 minutes apart. I still didn't think anything of them, until my dear friend, Stephanie Cheatham, my neighbor and our pastors wife, came over randomly to check on me. I told her I was about to take Griffin up to FBC to see Tyler for a bit while he ate dinner with the kids, since we hadn't seen him in three days. I then told her I was having contractions but didnt think they were anything really. She told me I should go to the hospital just to get checked, just in case. So I decided she was probably right and it wouldnt hurt to just get checked. So I finished packing my hospital bag and diaper bag real quickly while Stephanie put Piper's carseat in the Tahoe for me. WE WERE NOT READY, obviously. I loaded up out stuff, loaded Griffin and Stephanie drove us to the church to see Tyler first. He was about to lead worship when we got there and so we told him we would call him if he needed to come up to the hospital. Stephanie, Griffin, and I left for the hospital and after being checked the nurse looked at me and said calmly, "You're a good 5 cm dilated." Stephanie and I just looked at each other. I could not believe it! I was half way to a 10! Woah Nelly! This was at 7:00 pm. So Stephanie called our associate pastor, Sean, who drove Tyler to the hospital. I labored for about an hour or two, without the epidural, pacing back and forth in the hospital room, praying and asking God to show me when to get the epidural. I did not want to get it too soon because I was afraid it would slow everything down, like I feel like it did with Griffin. I enjoyed laboring for awhile, the contractions not being so bad since my water hadn't broken yet. In the mean time, I knew my mom and dad were not going to make it for the birth probably so I asked my friend, Adrian Gould, our associate pastors wife, if she would mind staying for the birth and being on the other side of me where my mom would have been if she would have made it. Adrian said yes! And I was very thankful. She counted for me during the pushing, allowing Tyler to just have the job of comforting me and encouraging me. I then had a contraction that was pretty painful and decided then to get the epidural, not wanting to wait too long and end up at a 9 and not be able to get it before pushing began. The anesthesiologist came in and was great! This was at around 9 pm. After the epidural, the nurse checked me again and I was a 7! 3 more to go! I was at a 10 by 10:30 pm and began pushing. I did not feel any pain, only pressure and knew exactly when to push. The doctor later said that the epidural was perfect, not too much, not too little. Praise God for that. Pushing was a piece of cake! And Piper arrived 45 minutes later at 11:14 pm. :)

I wasn't tired at all afterward and felt great. Giving birth to Piper was one of the best experiences of my life thus far. Griffin's birth may have been one of the hardest experiences, so being blessed with Piper's being so easy and fast was so wonderful. I am extremely thankful! I got to be the first to hold her and was able to enjoyed the experience, rather than being so exhausted and in shock and not being able to enjoy it.

My doctor was amazing, btw, too and was so positive and encouraging, telling me when he got there that it was going to be a good night and this was all going to go smoothly. He was so reassuring and made me feel calm, yet excited.

We are so thankful for our sweet little Piper Addison. She is a doll and we love her so, so much! God is so good and gracious and we praise Him for blessing us richly with Piper's life. She is doing so well, eating great, sleeping great, hardly ever crying, and just being oh so pretty! She is 8 days old today and already growing and changing. Griffin has loved on her and gets so excited to just look at her and hold her. He is an amazing big brother, so loving. Our little family has grown and we are so grateful. :)

Favor

I love Sundays. Have I mentioned that lately? Sundays are amazing because God has used the new church we are at (Terranova) to minister to me in so many ways. The teaching at Terranova is so rich, convicting, challenging, and drenched in scripture that God has really encouraged me and is changing me through listening and letting His word fill my heart each week. We have started going through the book of Luke and it has been awesome! I love it! Today Kyle (our pastor) preached through Mary's prayer in chapter 1. I love her prayer. As I sat there and listened God spoke to my heart. See I have been praying lately that He would show us His favor in causing our house in Clovis to sell soon. He whispered to me this morning that He already has shown me favor and I need to remember and be thankful for that favor in all He has done for me. He has shown me favor by giving me Himself, His love for me, in saving me by His grace, by causing my heart to believe the gospel, and in blessing me with a godly husband and giving me children. SO MUCH FAVOR! I forget these things so often. I know He desires to give me the desires of my heart, but it doesn't always happen and if it does it doesn't always happen when I want it to, but I must remember the favor He has shown me thus far and praise Him no matter what.

I am eager to see what God will continue to do in my heart through this time in my life. I am thankful that He loves me enough to discipline me, change me, and not just let me get comfortable and stay the same. I desire to be more godly, to know His word better, and continue to grow spiritually throughout my life.

This is Griffin on our way home from the river Friday. I love how he looks when he's asleep. :)

2nd birthday

Today is Griffin's 2nd birthday. He still seems to be a baby sometimes in my eyes, but then other moments he's a little boy. I am so excited about this 3rd year with him! I know it will be full of challenges (potty training and terrible twos) but I know it will be full of learning and talking and laughing, and playing with baby sister too! We are so thankful for this little person God has given us to take care of. We know he will be the coolest and most loving big brother. :)

So Happy Birthday Griffin Scott. We love you!

ps. he will have a cowboy/western bday party this sat. We are super excited!

lessons learned

Is your house really YOUR house? Your land YOUR land? Your things YOUR things?

These are some questions I have been thinking about the last few weeks as we wait "to get our OWN house". See right now we live in a home that "isn't ours". Praise God for this house for sure! But it is quite different than living in your own home with your own things. God has used this time for me to check my heart, and then double check it constantly. Where is my heart most the time? Well as mother/wife who stays at home, my HOME is a very important part of my life. I confess that it can and has become too important to me, as I have learned about myself over the last month. I LOVE being at home! I love keeping my home the way I like it and cooking and cleaning and all that goes into it. (weird I guess that sounds) But I do. So, not having my own home the last month has been really strange and such a blessing for me all at once. God has reminded me in a BIG way that this world isn't our home, and that I should be living life over the sun. That my contentment and happiness in this life dosent stem from having a house and having it the way I want it, etc. The Lord is the One who fills me, who SHOULD BE my "home", my comfort, and the One that causes me great joy, not a house. Nothing we have here in this life is really ours anyways. It all belongs to the Lord.

My pastor growing up, Brother David Rice, once said in one of his sermons that he wanted this jeep. And that he would pass by this jeep for sale every day and ask the Lord to give it to him. Then one day God spoke to his heart and said, "David, when you want me as much as you want that jeep, then I'll give it to you."

I desire to desire Christ more than I desire anything else in life! I have found, however, deep in my heart that I have been wanting a house of our own more. This I must repent of! Praise God for showing me my sin and helping me see what needs to change! Sin is anything that replaces God, and how dare I replace Him, my Creator and all-satisfying Savior, with a measly ole house that will rust and rot and never fulfill me at all. He is everlasting and the joy and fullness He gives never ends.

I do ask that you continue to pray for us as we are about to have a new baby and do not know when our Clovis house will sell or if we'll be in a house of our own before she comes. PLease pray we will trust the Lord in whatever circumstance we face and be thankful. Pray that the Clovis house will sell soon according to God's perfect will. Pray He will continue to teach us great things during this time of uncertainty.

23 months

Griffin is 23 months old today. This is the last time I will ever say his age in months. After kids turn two, you just say they are two, two 1/2, etc. I think. It sounds weird saying 32 months or something. So, yes, he will soon turn the big T-W-O. 1 month to go. I am planning a cowboy/horse/western theme birthday party for him. I am eager to send out the invitations I got that are so, so adorable. I love kids birthday invitations, not sure why. You can just find such cute ones nowadays.

At 23 months Griffin is:

-saying all kinds of words and can repeat whatever word you say pretty much. We are looking forward to him putting more words together soon.

-running everywhere, or skipping, then throwing a clap in there somewhere. (his jolly jog)

-loves people. He is so social, and people love him back. :)

-sits down and reads his books out loud like the most scholarly gentlemen. He points at all the things in the book that he knows and says all the words he knows. Its very funny and sweet.

-loves animals, especially dogs. Our pastor and his family have a golden retriever, named Desmond (they are LOST fans) that G has bonded with since they live next door to us.

-loves water, to play in it that is. He already has a tan and its not even summer yet!

-loves both sets of his grandparents and says their names randomly quite often. I guess wondering where they are. I always tell him where they are and that they are coming to see him soon.

-still a great eater most the time. He loves frozen blueberries and any fruit, but always dosent mind it when I let him have a piece of candy or popsicle. He'll eat carrots and beans and is liking peanut butter more and more now. Drinks lots of whole milk.

Tyler just said, "FInally the day has come when I don't have to remember Griffin's age in months. I don't like that system."

Goodnight!