Miscellany Monday

I've had some serious thoughts lately and I feel compelled to share:

1. I love the wet foot prints my son leaves behind on the bath mat afterI lift him out of the tub.  These may be the cutest imprints ever.

2.  I've become a coupon nerd.  However I have made two foolish purchases including scented dryer sheets and spray-n-go lotion simply because I had a coupon.  The lotion is actually pretty awesome but the dryer sheets give me a headache and I decided to throw them out.  All in the name of saving some money.

3.  I think my dog eats more dog food since we give her free choice.  I am considering limiting her intake to reduce the amount of the dog food we go through. 

4.  I uploaded close to 1,000 pictures from 2012 using my cell phone as our Wifi hub last month.  I received notice from Verizon when I was uploading the November pictures that we had used 75 percent of our data allowance and we stilll had two weeks to go.  I went without Facebook (gasp) for two weeks and only sporadically checked my email so I didn't have to sell my firstborn just to pay our cell phone bill.  Hubby and I both survived.  And I think we're better for the time spent away from Facebook.  Praise the Lord for the forced separation.

Pretty serious stuff, no?  Okay, here's one serious bit of miscellany.

5.  Hubby and I are fixin to lose an estimated $4,000 to $5,000 out of his paycheck next year due to higher healthcare insurance premiums caused by Obamacare.  I was devastated when I found out, and now I am mostly frustrated.  We are praying that God moves in BIG ways where our finances are concerned so that I can continue to stay home with our kiddos.  This quote from the September 5 Investor's Business Daily sums it up nicely: "Some consumers will have subsidies and may not pay these higher rates, someone will pay for the increased premiums, whether it is the consumer or the federal government. (Emphasis mine.) The reason for my frustration is underlined above.  I am really struggling to understand why the middle class is going to have to take a huge hit for the citizens (and yes, non-citizens) who apparently are "too poor" to pay higher insurance rates (oops, and too poor to pay taxes) yet are more than able to receive every benefit.  I continue to stand by the biblical teaching of no work, no eat.  (If you want the scriptural address for that, leave a comment.)  I realize I left the realm of Monday Miscellany and am firmly standing on a soapbox, but my ire has been raised.  If you are able to receive a benefit from the US Government (driving on public roadways, access to public libraries, enrolling children in public schools, fire protection from your city fire department.....) then you should be contributing to the cost of all these "free" benefits.  Oh wait, they aren't free.  People including my husband and I are paying taxes so others can utilize these "free" benefits.

Okay, soapbox vacated.  But for real, please be praying for our family.  This is a huge loss.  Please pray that we would remain confident in the Lord's provision AND plan for our family through this.  Please also pray that my faith would increase because I am straying constantly from trust and faith in the Lord that he will provide.  I know my worry and stress are not productive and will not bring any good about so please pray that I would re-focus my thought life and energies on the Lord.

3-and-4 month milestones

Who would have thought that my precious baby doll is four months old already?  Where has the time gone friends?  I now understand the absence of some of my blogger bodies after having an additional child - I am lucky to get the dishes done, most toys put away  and possibly a load of laundry at night before succumbing to sleep much less writing a blog entry.  Ah, but I found time for this one!  Finally!!

Katherine is rather serious in her 3-month photo but don't let her fool you folks.  She is a smiler, more and more everyday in fact.  She has the cutest chuckle - I wouldn't call it a laugh yet - and is very ticklish under her arms, over her ribs and under her chin.  Here is a small list of her achievements at four months old:

• She weighed 13 pounds 12 ounces at her 4-month old well check (50th percentile) and measured 25 inches in length (75th percentile). 
• She has just started grabbing items and bringing them to her mouth.  It was just this past weekend that she managed to get a set of plastic keys far enough in her mouth that she was gagging herself, repeatedly.  If that's not a milestone, I don't know what is.
• She also loves to grab her pacifier and try to re-insert it in her mouth.  She is not very successful at this yet but she has a mighty strong grip.
• I am still pumping four times a day so she can eat a hearty 3 1/2 ounces of milk roughly every 3 hours.
• Praise the Lord, she is sleeping through the night!  She hits the rack early though - 6pm - and wakes mid-morningish for a quick snack before sleeping in until 6am or so.
• She holds her head up rather well although she despises tummy time.  She loves to sit on my lap and watch her brother roving about as he lovingly destroys any semblance of order in our living room.



I almost captured a smile this time around.  Maybe next month.

HB continues to dote on his little sister bringing her toys and continually wiping her face and re-inserting her pacifier even if she does not want it.  He has brought new meaning to the phrase "temper tantrum" as of recent and is truly challenging my patience.  He continues to sleep great at night and eats almost anything I place in front of him.  He is a bit nosy and loves to watch everything going on around him.  And he is a lover of all things outside - dirt, sticks, livestock troughs, mommy's dog and all our livestock.  I take him outside each morning when Katherine goes down for her first nap.  We can be outside for an hour though and he still throws a fit when we come in.  Boys will be boys, right?  All in all though, he is a good natured, charming little guy that has stolen mommy's heart.

Loving on his sister in the swing.  He loves to lean in for a "hug"!

Update on prayer priorities for 2013

I've been meaning to write this post since April.  April y'all.  How did that happen?  It's only taken me roughly four months to find the time (and the mental willingness) to look back and reflect on the prayer priorities I shared in 2013.  In all honesty I guess it's been a matter of wanting to reflect rather than finding the time.  This year has been more full, more trying and more stressful I think than at any other season of my life.  I guess that is why I have put reflection off.

Many of my prayer requests for 2013 involved relationships in my life - relationships with my husband, our children, my extended family and Jesus.  The intent of this post isn't to update you with a play-by-play but rather to modify my requests and again ask for continued prayer.

Two of the most difficult relationships this year include the ones with my stepdaughter and my mother-in-law.  2012 ended without my husband and mother-in-law being on speaking terms.  Praise the Lord that they are speaking again.  Not everything has been sorted out but at least we are heading in a direction instead of being at a standstill.  My stepdaughter has moved back to Florida, yet again, to live with her mom.  This is the second time she has chosen to leave in two years and this time was not any less drama filled than the first.  Sadly our relationship with Brandy is very strained right now.  Brandy's coping mechanism is to "run" or leave when she is unhappy or upset.  Unfortunately she never shared what was making her unhappy enough to leave but it is our prayer that she learns how to cope with difficult situations before becoming an adult.  These two relationships are at the forefront of my prayer priorities.  I am struggling with frustration and anger in some ways and am asking for patience and a continual reminder that God extended grace and love to me even when I didn't deserve it.

Please continue praying for protection upon my marriage - I have a special unspoken request for my husband.  Please pray that he would be strengthened and upheld by the Lord's right hand as he faces a struggle of his own.  Also, I have been convicted recently that I need to be more expectant of God's provision in our lives and finances.  I don't expect, much less look for, God moving in this area of my life and I know that He is.  I need to pray more and worry less about our finances.  God has never not provided what we needed.  May His faithfulfullness in this area of our lives be at the forefront of my mind.

Finally, please pray for my father-in-law.  In the same week that we celebrated my grandmother's life, Kelly and his mom starting talking again, and Brandy left for Florida my father-in-law was in a life changing car accident.  The throttle in a hot rod truck of his stuck and he ran into a tree going roughly 45 mph.  He has been in and out of critical care, regular hospital care and a rehab facility since the beginning of April.  He is recovering from 13 broken ribs, 9 shattered vertebrae and a stroke that occured the first time he started rehab.  He is now in stable condition and is in rehab learning how to live life again is a parapalegic (he is paralyzed from the waist down).  While this is a life changing event for my father-in-law Kelly and I are both praying that this might do good things in his heart.  There have been several praises born out of this situation - Kelly and his dad were "reunited" after being estranged several years and Kelly has reconnected with his half-brother who also became a Christian recently. 

There are two things that I have learned more this year than at any other time of my life:

1. The Lord's timing is not our own but it is perfect.
2. Pray persistently.  Pray in all things.  Pray patiently.  Pray when life is hard, when life is good, when life is uncertain.  Pray even when it's the last thing you want to do because you think you have something more important to do. 

I am grateful for the life I have been given even though 2013 has been full of unexpected things.  I am looking forward to seeing what is in store for the remainder of this year!  Thank you in advance for praying for me and my family.  I would love to know how I can pray for you - leave a comment or email your prayer needs and share your praises with me at katygroseta@gmail.com.

Two Month Chair Photos

 I attempted our classic chair photo on the actual date but I learned, yet again, that timing is everything with infants.  Katherine had already been up for about an hour and I was hustling to fit one more thing in before putting her down for a nap.  Well, she wasn't going to have any of that!

I love the little mini Keds she is wearing.   Makes her look so adult like!

Take two happened two days later.  I actually managed to get a bow put on her without any crying ensuing.  And her hair looks semi taken care of.  Girlfriend has some crazy hair. 

15 and 2

That's months, not yards and downs.  Although college football is right around the corner.  My babies are 15 months (on Sunday) and 2 months (on Monday).  It's hard to believe that I've survived eight weeks with two bambinos.  There were definitely points that I thought I might not make it, or maybe my one year old wouldn't make it hehe, but here we are.  Alive. Healthy. And joyful.  I can't post milestones for baby girl without mentioning a few outstanding things (and some not so outstanding) that my lil man has completed either.

Baby Girl, aka Katherine
Girlfriend has captured my heart.  She started smiling about two weeks ago which has made many a sleepless nights worth it.  She now likes to coo as you talk to her, as if we were really having a conversation.  She did not like the bath at first, but now might even slightly enjoy it.  Many baths ended in tears.  Just like the tears I encounter as I dress her each morning - Katherine does not like to have stuff pulled over her head.  I reassure her that I will not suffocate her so she should just calm down.  She ignores those admonitions though and continues to scream.  She has curly hair like her brother did as an infant but it seems like her curls will be bigger.  She has crazy hair on a daily basis (like her momma) that I typically only put bows in long enough to take a picture.  She eats every 2 1/2 hours and sleeps a nice long six hour stretch most nights.  I am sooo grateful for the improved sleep habits - removing dairy from my diet and starting a reflux medication have alleviated most of her tummy troubles.  She measured 23 inches long and weigh 11 pounds 2 ounces at her 2 month check up.

Her 2-month chair photo will be posted at a later date...when she is not madder than a wet hen and screaming at me.

HB is very sweet with Miss Katherine- he has quickly picked up on ways to take care of her.  He puts her pacifier in her mouth, even if she doesn't want it.  Thankfully she apparently thinks this is funny; most often she just smiles when he jams it in her toothless mouth.  He also thinks she needs his sippy cup - he doesn't have as good of aim with this though and it is often jammed into her neck.  Finally, he wipes her face down often with her burp rag.  If wiping her mouth is good, why isn't wiping her entire face even better?

Lil Man, aka HB
Our first born is testing the limits of my patience each day as he has recently learned to scale the dining room chairs and crawl across the table.  Each time I sit down to pump or feed Baby Girl a bottle, something must instantaneously go off in his brain that urges him to climb on the table.  So far he has drawn on papers that didn't need to be drawn on, torn up napkins, dumped the entire salt shaker out and only fallen off once.  He is becoming well acquainted with the confines of his room behind our new baby gate.

He continues to be a great eater although he has picked up a few poor habits that drive me C.R.A.Z.Y. He now throws his food or sippy cup as soon as he is ready to be taken out of his high chair.  I love having a clean floor so this is driving me batty.  He does have some redeeming mealtime qualities though - he started lifting his plate to his mouth to lick any remaining food off of it.  Kelly and I do NOT do this.  I repeat do NOT. So I'm not sure who modeled this behavior for him.  Maybe his Aunt Banana when he had his first sleepover with his cousin?  Hehe. He also loves to blow on his food - he blows on everything like it is piping hot.  He measured 32 and 1/2 inches long and 25 pounds 5 ounces at his 15 month checkup.  He also has almost 13 teeth - he just cut three molars on top, hence the almost.

HB enjoying our hillbilly pool aka livestock trough.  My Queensland was also enjoying our pool this day.  He thought it was the greatest thing to have my dog jumping in and out and trying to get him to throw her stick.

 
He runs around the house, stands on his tip toes and attempts the Irish jig. I joke about the last part.  I pretend to run and chase him so he now pretends to run too.  It is seriously the cutest thing he does.  He tries running in place but it's like his little baby legs are in slow motion.  I could just eat him up when he does this. He likes to close the bedroom doors but cannot open them yet so he is learning to be content for a few minutes after he closes himself in a room.  He has started trying to sort shapes with some of his toys and is working feverishly to rearrange all of the belongings of my lower cupboards.

Mothering two children has proven to be a blessing times two but has also revealed even more about my need for Christ.  I tire of dealing with the sin of selfishness over, and over and over as I struggle to be selfless with my children and husband.  I am reminded though that it is a blessing to know I need Christ.  I often feel like there are many big failures and only small victories to my days.  Motherhood has blown my mind.  I didn't know it would be so hard.  Or so good.  Through it all though I am beyond grateful for the grace of God which carries me through it all.

The American's Creed

by William Tyler Page

I believe in the United States of America as a government of the people, by the people, for the people; whose just powers are derived from the consent of the governed, a democracy in a republic, a sovereign Nation of many sovereign States; a perfect union, one and inseparable; established upon those principles of freedom, equality, justice, and humanity for which American patriots sacrificed their lives and fortunes.

I therefore believe it is my duty to my country to love it, to support its Constitution, to obey its laws, to respect its flag, and to defend it against all enemies.

–Written 1917, accepted by the United States House of Representatives on April 3, 1918.


Happy Fourth of July friends!

She's here!!!!

Miss Katherine Beth Wright made her entrance into the world on Tuesday, May 21 at 7:12am.  She weighed 7 pounds 4 ounces and measured 19 inches long.  We are ecstatic that she is here.  And I am completely. In. Love.

(Birth story to come...)

HB loves her too!  He is making his first attempt to hold her hand in the car.  Total sweetness.

Our sweet angel baby.