The Blessing Box





Kind of a no brainer this week for me!  Anyone who's read my last couple blog posts knows that the blessing I'm going to talk about is the little one growing inside of me!  I'm officially 11 weeks pregnant now too, btw!  Seems like since we've heard the good news on friday everything has been going by so quickly!  I had another doctor appointment today..but it was for the important bloodwork and urine tests that needed to be done.  We opted to not have some of the optional testing done..we figured since it would determine if the baby had this or that wrong (Lord forbid)...we both know that abortion is NOT an option for us..so why bother with the tests in the first place?  I've been praying for a long time now that this child will be 100% healthy and I'm believing in that.  :-)  My only concerns right now are for me in a health standpoint.  My blood pressure was very high at my appointment last friday (something I've dealt with a time or two..but never had to take medication)..and diabetes runs rampid in my family as well.  BUT..I know God has His protecting hand upon me and this baby..and that He's taking care of us.  :-)  Its a true comfort to know that fact!  I am hoping to hear some good news next week at my 12 week doctor appointment though!  I think once I get past that and know that everything is ok..I won't be so stressed w/other appointments.  Seems in the beginning so far (for me anyways)..everything is just so new and you just want everything to be OK..and once you have that peace of mind..the rest will be easier?  Any other moms like that feel that way..especially with your first-born?  But anyways..here's to a blessing from God!!





Miscellany Monday



~ONE~

For anyone who didn't read my last post on saturday..CLICK HERE NOW!!  I blogged on the biggest life changing event ever!  Plus if you haven't read it yet..it'll spoil the rest of this post! ;-)

~TWO~

So now that you've read my other post..you'll know that I'm 10 weeks pregnant!  Its been one whirlwind of a weekend!  I can't describe the feeling of knowing there is life inside of me.  Its a great feeling though! 

~THREE~

Saturday was spent lounging around the house in my pjs (can you say ahhhhh?).  Much needed rest after the doctor appointment that was on Friday.  I wasn't going to announce on facebook until Sunday afternoon about our exciting 'news', but Damon beat me to the punch Saturday morning when he got in from work!  Since getting high speed, he's a total internet 'junkie'!  Its so cute!  Anyways, he made the big announcent on his facebook page, followed by a comment on my facebook page..so I HAD to write about it once seeing all of that!

~FOUR~

Church on Sunday was great for many reasons!  We had 2 young boys who were baptized after the morning worship service..soo great to see those young men make a profession of their faith!!  Also..Damon announced to our church family about our little one on the way..and asked prayer for us as well!  It was so heartwarming!  We got a round of applause and alot of well wishes.  I LOVE my church family! 

~FIVE~

So as many of you pregnant ladies out there on blogger know..the doctors like to make us have blood drawn and a bunch of stuff done once we've found out we're preggers!  I have another doctor appointment tomorrow (tuesday) morning at 10am.  PLEASE remember me in your prayers!!!  The one thing I'm most nervous about is my blood pressure since it was really high when I was there on Friday.  Its something I've always had problems with when going to the dr..but they've always wrote it off as 'white coat syndrome' because it ususally would go down.  I'm just hoping for a good report when I go in for my 12 week checkup next week!!

Can you guess?

I wanted to save this post for monday..but I just can't help myself!  Can you guess?

Still scratching your head?!  Think about it really hard!!!  

Ok..THIS should really help!

Whats that..you say?  Do you really think she's trying to tell us......



Oh my!!!  YES..y'all its true!!  I am officially 'preggers'!! 

You guys have NO IDEA how hard it has been to try to keep this a secret for so long!!  Especially with all the pregnancy announcements thats been going on for the past several weeks and baby gender reveal parties (Callie, I was about to BUST!!)!!  I waited a long while before making a doctor's appointment..you can understand after my miscarriage back in July I wanted to be positive beyond a shadow of a doubt that I was definately pregnant and not rush into anything, like I did then.  Then early last week I caught that lovely 'bug' for 24 hours and wanted to wait till I was past THAT.  So it was an agonizing wait until this monday when I scheduled my first appointment!  It was TODAY (Friday) and I had my first ultrasound and dr visit.  Everything went so great..I'm happy to report!!  The ultrasound technician said everything looked extremely well and that I'm..hold your breath..10 WEEKS PREGNANT!!!  I honestly still can't believe that one since I kinda 'figured' we conceived around the time we were on vacation (I jokingly told a couple people it was a baby-cation..looks like I was right!)..and that would make me more like 9 weeks.  But..thats what they are telling me!!!  We're soo excited and are still kind of in shock..though we have known for quite some time that I was pregnant.  I guess seeing that little baby on that screen just makes it real..you know.  Its exciting and scary at the same time! 

I wanted to ask for some prayers from all of you wonderful bloggers out there..I have to go in next week for bloodwork and tests (those who are pregnant know what I'm talkin about).  My blood pressure today was high..and really thats my main concern right now.  So do remember me when you pray!!!!  Me and the baby would definately appreciate it alot! 

Its so exciting to finally be able to share the happy news with all of you guys!!  I've waited for what has seemed like forever for this day!  Oh and before I end this post..my due date (for now, anyways) is May 30th..a Memorial Day baby it looks like!!  :-)





Love and baby bibs,

Staying Spiritually Connected--Week 5

Welcome back for another installment of SSC!!  I hope you've been gaining some knowledge and understanding what we, as Christians, can do to be more spiritually connected in our daily lives as much as I have!  Its always great to have some fresh ideas and have your eyes opened to things you may have forgotten!



This week we'll be talking about becoming more accepting.  In today's world, especially with recent events that has caused alot of people to talk about bullying, this is a pretty hot topic in my opinion.  Sometimes it IS hard to not judge someone.  Think about it, you may be driving down the road and see a woman walking down the street, scantily dressed, and immediately in your mind your already putting a 'label' on her.  You may overhear someone's conversation and by the tone of their voice, or perhaps something you heard them say,  you make a judgement call on what type of person they must be.  We all do this..its just human nature I believe.  But, as Christians, we know we are not to judge.  God is the ultimate judge and really..its not something we need worry about.  We need to concentrate on ourselves more times than not.  Being accepting of others can be a hard process, especially if say the person is someone you know, and they have done you some wrong.  We should be willing to pray for a more accepting heart.  Because like I said, its human nature to make calls on people based on different aspects.  Thankfully, the good Lord knows this, and has given us the power of prayer! 

When we become more accepting of others, this process makes us more gracious.  Think about what gracious really means.  "Pleasantly kind, courteous, merciful, compassionate, charaterized by good taste" to name a few definitions.  I don't know about you, but I'd definately like the label of being gracious!!  Just think if the whole world was more gracious to one another, how much better a place it would be.  I'm not saying we have to tolerate the wrongs of others and let people walk all over us (thats a whole other issue).  God plainly states in the Bible that He hates sin..but not the sinner.  This is what we should keep in mind as well.  Being gracious is a definate trait of a Christian, we should try to be gracious in all our ways and even in our thinking.  I'm going to try to be more gracious from now on and when I fail..pray that God helps me to have a more accepting heart!

It doesnt take much to make me giggle..

Is it just me..or are some of the 'gadgets' out there now kinda funny?  I bought one of these recently....

..and everytime I walk into our master bathroom now and this little gem 'goes off'..I can't help but laugh!  Its like a little person inside it can see me and says, "There she is!!  SPRAYYY!!"!  Ok maybe thats a little much..but it is funny and it doesn't help that it makes a little grrr sound just before it actually sprays.  Like a mind of its own or something.  Kinda freaky.  

And take my hubby, for instance.  With his outside job at the coal mines, he gives me a call every night just to chat for a few minutes (nice..right?!).  I've grown accustomed to the background noises that are associated with his job..but some of the noises still makes me laugh even though he's held this particular position for over a year now!  The "BuuuDuu" sound and my favorite..what I call the "fairy" thats calling for him (you guys probably think I've lost my mind by now..but if you could just hear what I hear every night..you'd understand!)..makes me laugh!  Plus I get to hear all the miners who are underground working talk on the mine phones (it comes into hubbys office where he's at)..certainly some funny conversations.  When they call to someone..they say hello 3+ times to that person.  I don't know how Damon doesnt have a headache every morning when he gets home from work with all the nonstop chatter/noises/sounds that goes on there!! 

Ok..this is officially a crazy post..what can I say its after 2am and raining outside..I'm not at my most creative!  Hope it brought a smile to your face!!  :-D

A Season to be Thankful (and a few good recipes!)

I was really inspired by some wonderful posts I read tonight to talk a little bit about thankfulness.  It seems when this time of the year rolls around..everyone tends to focus so much on the Christmas holiday.  Don't get me wrong..I absolutely LOVE Christmas..and it is my favorite holiday for so many reasons.  :-)  BUT, Thanksgiving is definately a holiday that sometimes..might just be taken for granted a little.  Think about it, the kids all look forward to Halloween..with the getting dressed up and piles of candy (can you blame them?) and the stores are geared up for it for a couple months!  Then once that is past..its hard to not look towards Christmas.  Everyone wants to get ahead (or complete) their shopping lists before December even rolls around.  And who can blame anyone?  The stores push the seasons so much anymore.  The fall decorations (Thanksgiving included in this) are already being pushed to the storage as we speak in all the major stores to make room for Christmas trees, decorations, bows, ribbons, etc, etc.  Thanksgiving is a time to celebrate!  Its a holiday to relish in.  Especially as Christians, we should really take this holiday to heart..because it is the time to reflect on what we're thankful for.  Thats a whole other post in itself (thankfulness)..but its a time for family..for celebration..and for good food as well!  (Like my segway there?)  Lets face it..Thanksgiving is a great opportunity to try out something 'new'..something 'fresh'...since everyone is really gearing up now for the baking season!  My favorite!!  Anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE LOVE LOVE to bake!!  So I wanted to ask you, dear readers, what are some of your favorite Thanksgiving dishes?  Or perhaps..your favorite pie/cake/pumpkin recipes?  Anything that would pertain to this upcoming holiday..I'd LOVE to hear about it!!  You don't have to write in the whole recipe (unless you feel so inclined to do so!)..but I would love to get some ideas from y'all!  To get the ball rolling, I'll post a favorite recipe (or two) of mine!  Hope you enjoy!



Cranberry Walnut Tart

Shell: 

1 cup all purpose flour

1/3 cup sugar

pinch of salt

5 tab. butter

1 egg, beaten

1/2 tab. water

Filling:

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup light corn syrup

2 eggs

2 tab. melted butter

1/2 tea. grated orange rind

1 cup walnut halves

1 cup fresh cranberries

For shell:  Combine flour, sugar, and salt.  Blend in butter until you have coarse crumbs.  Add egg and water and stir until it forms a ball.  Wrap and refrigerate 1 hour.  Heat oven to 375.  With floured fingers, put pastry in a 9 inch springform shell w/ aluminum foil and bake 10 minutes.  Remove foil and bake 5 minutes longer.

For filling:  Combine first 5 ingredients and mix well.  Place walnuts and cranberries in bottom of pie shell and pour mixture over.  Bake 25-30 minutes until edge of filling is firm and center is soft.  Let cool and refrigerate.

Pumpkin Pancakes

2 cups flour

2 tab. brown sugar

1 tab. baking powder

1 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp. salt

1/2 cup nuts (optional)

1/2 cup canned pumpkin

1 egg

2 tab. oil

1 cup milk

Mix all together in a blender (this works GREAT for making pancakes!) except nuts, if using.  Pour desired amount on hot griddle and cook as usual.  

Blessing Box



This week I want to brag on my dear hubby, Damon.  Last week as some of you know, I got a really bad stomach 'bug', and felt terribly horrible.  I hadn't been THAT sick in ages!  During my illness though, Damon was such a sweetheart.  He made sure I rested..took in as many fluids as I could..and bought me some popsicles since it was the only thing I could really eat.  I don't know what I would have done without him.  He even kept himself fed the day I couldn't eat anything solid..and made dinner the next night when I felt a little up to the challenge.  He even did LAUNDRY!!  He was so understanding and just took it all in stride.  I'm so thankful I have a caring, wonderful, God-fearing man to call my husband!  He IS the best!!  I love you, bear!!