To the Single Mom...

It's been a while since I've written, but today I felt compelled to write a note to the Single Moms out there.  With Mother's Day behind us, I want to encourage you ladies.  I know Mother's Day can be difficult for all sorts of different reasons, but this is one that is near and dear to my heart.  You see, I was a single mom for 5 years before Adam and I got married.  Those years were some of the hardest of my life, but I truly believe God shaped me during that time in ways I didn't know were possible.

I want you to know that I see you, and I understand how you feel.  I know what it's like to struggle to make ends meet.  To feel like you're always the bad guy.  To wonder if you're messing it all up.  Trust that Jesus sees you, and he knew you could do this job, that's why he gave it to you.  He could've chosen anyone for this assignment, but he picked you. 

 

When the days are long and there's no one there to help, Jesus has a plan for you.  When there are more bills than money, Jesus is there.  When your baby does something amazing and you want to share it with someone, tell Jesus, he's listening!

 

Don't give up because that sweet child is counting on you, and believe it or not, they think you are amazing.  Because you are.

 

I wish I could promise you that your story will turn out like mine and a wonderful man will come along and pursue your heart and treat your child as if she were his own, but I can't.  What I can promise you, is that Jesus loves you and he only gives good gifts to his children.  He has good in store for you Mama!  He love you Mama!  So snuggle that babe a little tighter tonight and know that someone knows where you are, and is standing on the other side cheering you on.  You can do it Mama!

6 months

That old saying 'time flies when you're having fun'...well, I've learned that time flies regardless.  Fun or not, it seems like every year goes by a little bit faster than the prior, and that's a good thing when you're not having fun.  When you are having fun, that's a different story!  Sometimes I wish time would slow down, but it won't, and as a result we need to make the best of every fleeting moment before it slips through our fingers!

These last 6 months have been a complete whirlwind!  During that time, we welcomed our 2nd daughter, took a vacation, came home to a flooded apartment, moved 500 miles, started 2 new schools, and walked away from 2 full time jobs in exchange for more time with our family.  Like I said, WHIRLWIND!  I wouldn't trade a minute of it though!

taken hours after she was born

Adlee Grace has been a huge blessing to all 3 of us, and while it seemed she'd never be here (2 days late overdue, clearly she came exactly when God was ready), now I can't remember life without her!  In 6 months she's grown 6 inches and over doubled her birth weight. She is a happy, healthy blessing and we are all head over heels for her!

first week, swallowed by her carrier

not so small anymore!

right before Christmas with big sissy!

                 

enjoying some swing time during a warm winter day

Happy half birthday Adlee Grace! I can't believe you're growing so fast. We love you so

2013 in Review

Clearly it has taken me a little longer than I planned to finish this post...but better late than never, so they say.  Who is this "they" anyway?  Oh well, here we go.

As we look ahead to the new year, I can't help but feel overwhelmed with thankfulness for 2013.  The year brought many changes to us, starting with a new home in Indianapolis.  We moved in March, and got busy setting up shop for Back40Life vinyl headquarters, and preparing for the arrival of our baby.

In May, God blessed Adam with a new job, so for the last 12 weeks of my pregnancy we both worked full time outside the house and worked like crazy catching up vinyl on the weekends.  This once again reminded me that God's plan is way better than ours!  During this time of multiple incomes, we were able to save some money for the months ahead.  We had a few ideas on what this savings would do...God had other plans!

In July of 2013, we welcomed a beautiful baby girl, and were excited to announce her arrival to the world.  My 2nd pregnancy was such a different journey from the first.  I was sick for around the first 24 weeks of it, and we didn't find out the sex so it was a big surprise for all of us.  Alexa came home from SC after spending 8 weeks of "vacation" between my parents, my sister, and her dad.  As much as we were thankful for her to be loved on during that time by our family, we missed her like crazy!  There is nothing like being with your family!


After Adlee Grace was born, we made one of the most difficult and easiest decisions I've ever weighed in on.  I've always wanted to be a stay at home mom, but it has never been an option.  When we found out we were having another baby, we started making preparations for this dream to become reality.  I am so thankful to stay home with my baby girl each day and to be in the car line at 2:45 to pick Alexa up.

In October we took a much needed family vacation.  Did you know even first graders get fall break in Indiana?  Me either!  This year it was a whole week...so off to SC we went.  We had a fantastic week catching up with family, showing off our sweet baby, celebrating 2 wonderful years of marriage, and seriously considering what our next step in life was.  It was during that time we felt confirmation from God to move back to SC.  It was truly a bittersweet decision.

We really enjoyed our 2 years preparing for and living in Indy, but our time there was complete and we set plans in motion.  We returned home Sunday, refreshed and excited for the future.  I can honestly say those feelings were quickly and temporarily dashed when we found our home flooded.  In the wee hours of the night, my anger flared.  We found out later, our upstairs neighbors flooded their bathtub sometime that week and didn't bother to tell anyone.  In hindsight, it was truly a blessing in disguise, but in the moment it was painful!

As much as it hurt, the flood was another confirmation that we were doing exactly what God wanted us to do and he was making a way.  Over the next few weeks we made some hard decisions, we said goodbye (or see you later) to some good friends, and we (the girls and I) settled in SC.  My dear husband stayed behind for 2 weeks to finish up work and he single-handedly packed our entire apartment.  What an incredible guy!!

Compared to that whirlwind, the end of the year was quite uneventful.  We celebrated Christmas with our family at NewSpring.

2013 gave us a lot to be thankful for, and as we look forward to 2014 we know we will feel the same way this time next year.  God is still God and God is still good!

Blogger Fail

At some point during 2012 I realized I missed blogging.  I missed the look back it gives, and the perspective.  I miss knowing my girls will have the chance to read it one day and smile (or have any myriad of facial expressions) when they think back on things we've shared.  As a result, I started blogging again.

I did really well for a while.

Ok, fine.  I did ok for a while. In total I managed to eek out 25 posts for the year.  Considering I didn't start until August that's not too bad, right?

Then December rolled around, and well, things got a little crazy.  We experienced our first Christmas rush with our business. We announced we were pregnant.  And we started packing our apartment for the upcoming move.  Add in the ridiculous morning all day sickness I was facing and blogging fell to the end of the line.  Even if I had time, I just didn't feel like it.

When we rang in the new year I made myself promise I would do better.  FAIL!  I managed to post twice in January and once in July.  I had big dreams of capturing our new home, my pregnancy, and I'm sure some other number of things I was going to accomplish.  While those things were potentially accomplished, I was too busy doing them to write about them.

On one hand, I am thankful that I was busy living my life and not just writing about it, but I want to find a balance here as well.

We are now halfway through the first month of 2014 and I'm going to try again.  After all, I can't change 2013, but I can make my mark on 2014 as it has yet to be written.

With that in mind, my goal for this year is to post on a weekly(ish) basis and to have a mix of family moments, recipes, and business updates along the way.  Hopefully I won't be writing this same post a year from now. :)

Time Flies!

Honestly, where does it go?  I hopped over to my blog today to look back at a couple of things and couldn't believe how long it has been since I've written.  Sad, just sad.  So much has changed since the last time I was on here...for starters, I am staring down my due date!  Literally, it is 3 weeks from tomorrow and I can't wait for our sweet baby to be here.

We've chosen to be surprised with the gender of our child, so anticipation is just about to drive us all wild!  But either way, in just a few weeks we will have a new sweet bundle of joy and will all be acclimating to life with a baby.  Here are a few of our favorite pictures from our recent maternity session with our good friend Stefanie.  She and her husband own SBChilds Photography, and have done an incredible job of capturing this exciting time for us.  I can't wait for them to do our newborn pictures in just a few weeks!

Hmm...seems like I had a few other things to share, but they escape me at the moment.  Some on purpose as I'm not quite ready to share, and others because well, I'm pregnant and my mind doesn't hold things long!  Happy 4th of July all!

More recipes

Today my guest post at The Grain Mill Wagon is all about my whole wheat bread, and how simple and delicious it is.  Seriously, I just pulled a loaf out of the oven and it smells simple divine!  I hope you'll give this recipe a shot, and let me know what you think!  More posts coming soon...not exactly sure how you define soon, but for me it's something like sometime in the next month or so. :)  Seriously though, I'm working on getting some pictures up from the holidays sometime this week.

Guest Post

Hey guys, I know I've been MIA for a while, but I promise all of that is going to change.  In the meantime, I'm guest posting today at The Grain Mill Wagon check out my post on biscuits and take a look at all the other great things you can make with freshly ground wheat while you're there!  See you soon!