The Little Things

Some days, OK most days, it is all about the little things.  All too often we get caught up in the bad that has happened that day or that moment, and we let it ruin our day, and our lives.  Am I looking at the little things? We have been sick quite a bit this winter.  With sick little ones that require extra attention, and with a sick mommy running low on energy it seems to not take much to "ruin" my day.  My motto for today specifically, but all from now on will be: What are the little things?

When I say What are the little things, I am NOT talking about the little things that can seem to ruin my whole day or run my patience dry. But rather, what are the little things that I love, what are the little things that make(made) me smile, what are the little things my children have accomplished or done today.  What are all THESE little things, all these wonderful little things given to me each and every day, and often several times a day.

So, what are my little things?  Today they are many and I'm sure I cannot list them all but it has done wonders for my attitude to remember them through out the morning.

My little things are:
The way my snuggle bug(Athaiah) climbs up into my lap asking to just be rocked.
Elijah calling his sister his sweet girl and asking if she needs anything.
Sharing and playing so nice with their barn and the animals that go with.
Their energy level, even while sick.
The baby's love of snuggle time, and her new interest in big girl food.
When Elijah hurt Athaiah(partially an accident) Athaiah pulls out her Bible and tell him "see brother, be kind to one another" -Makes my mommy heart melt that they are learning, especially when they are disciplined.
Athaiah putting her bunny and baby on the couch and covering them up, kissing them, and telling them goodnight.  It makes me think of her a long way down the road and what a wonderful little mommy she will make!
Them running through the house singing songs. I love the sound of their voices singing in unison.
Playing basketball together-the whole time saying please and thank you while taking turns shooting baskets. And being great encouragers: when they miss they let the other sibling try again,and when they make a basket they break out in applause!

This is by no means a complete list, but it is some of the little things that have made my mommy heart smile this morning.  And with a night when I was up more than I was a sleep this is what I needed today.  I needed God's gentle reminder that even when my day may "seem" bad, He is there and His love is shinning through. He is with us and guiding us.  He is helping us grow up our children according to His word, and most of all HE is there helping me make it through the day-carrying me when necessary, and reminding me of all the little things!

Take the time today to look for your little things.  All those little blessings you have been given.

Remember: "This is the day that the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it." Psalms 118:24

(I know it isn't the best quality-it was taken via skype) But I love this picture of my family!

Not my plans...

"For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord" Jeremiah 29:11a.

This verse is ringing true for me today(yesterday, ok always, but especially recently)! A great reminder and promise that even when I do NOT know the plans HE does, and HE has it all under control.  I need to make sure that my DAILY plans line up with HIS and NOT mine!

The kiddos have been grumpy since daylight savings time.  They are waking up earlier and still going to bed at the same time.  Their naps are pretty much non existent.  Needless to say this makes for looong days, lots of correction, lots of snuggles, and a WHOLE HEAP of patience.  And while mommy is lacking on sleep patience some days, change that- some moments, patience can be hard to come by.

After getting everyone ready and dressed, we load up in the van...click, click, click. No this is not the sound of all the car seat buckles, but rather the sound the car is making.  No nice Vroom noise, just a bunch of clicks-ugh dead battery!  I call my husband to have him listen to the noise over the phone and confirm what I thought may be the problem(I know nothing about cars, so to guess right equals big time score for me!)

Sigh...unload all the kiddos.  Athaiah is screaming "No shopping, I go shopping." Note-she is all girl, can you tell? Elijah say "It needs new batteries." Which is his standard saying for what is wrong if something is broken, but yes son, today you are definitely correct.  The van needs a new battery. Another sigh, then the verse from above pops into my head. My plans for today must have been my own. I ask semi out loud, "then what are your plans today/

The two little ones run ahead, while I lag behind hauling the heavy car seat, and kind of dragging my feet because MY plans have been changed.  I tend to be a creature of habit and don't usually like sudden changes.  Although, these sweet children have definitely taught me to be more flexible.  Finally, we all make it back to the front door and battle with the dog to make it inside the house.  Athaiah immediately starts to rub her eyes so hard I think they might fall out.  She goes and gets her blanket, paci, and lulley and tell me she wants to rock.  Not 2 minutes later she is asleep.  Elijah is playing quietly with cars. My house is peaceful!

Ahhh God, now I know.  You had plans for peace today! Much better than my plan of grumpy kids and staying busy running errands, that (if truth be told) can wait until the weekend.  What a relief to know that His plans are always better than mine.  We had a quiet peaceful morning, Athaiah got an 1.5 hour nap...as you can guess this severely altered her disposition making her a happy girl, rather than one that screams all day.  And  let me tell you, this girl can scream!

What a wonderful reminder, and promise.  As I go about my day I need to consistently remember He knows my plans.  I need to make sure that I am following His plans for my life and not my own.  I am excited to see what this week holds-with one car we will be staying home all day every day this week.  It may just be the wonderful break in life we were looking for.

My life these days...

My life these days are filled with...

Smiles, giggles, and belly laughs..

Crying, because of a scraped knee...

Kisses to make every thing all better...

Diapers and a lot of them...

Sand filled hair and shoes, from our time outside...

Little shoes lined by the front door...

Reading books and Bible stories

Dancing around the house...

A mountain of laundry...

A pile of dishes...

Warm little fingers grasping for my hand...

Coloring pages and warm comforting gazes...

Cars strewn all over the floor...

Blocks being built into garages and towers...

Play dough all over the kitchen table...

Snuggle time with each of my babies...

Being silly and making faces...

Jar lids becoming bracelets...

Children playing make believe...

Late nights and even earlier mornings...

Prayer and a lot of it...

Wishing that time would slow, so I can sit and enjoy more of the little moments like these! Life may be crazy at times, but I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Reflections from Maternity Leave

God is so faithful and so good!- This is the main thing that was reiterated to us time and time again during my maternity leave.  Let's start from the beginning shall we?!

I went into labor at 35wks-I have to admit I was a bit nervous when they told me this was for real, but at the same time I knew the Lord's timing was everything and if this was the time ordained then so be, we would be ok and would pull through! Turns out they were able to stop the labor and I had to spend time in a hospital far far away from home(not really it was like an hr away, but still farther than I would have liked to have been).  When I was sent home I got put on bed rest, so guess what this started my maternity leave 4 wks earlier than we were planning, and we were barely budgeted for me taking 6wks off, now I have 10wks off and was missing those last 4wks of pay which we were really counting on.
Now to the good points:
* I got to see my church family in action-they stepped right up to the plate when I called the youth pastor and told him we were going to need someone to watch Elijah last minute because I was being rushed away!
* We got to see God provide in miraculous and marvelous ways through our family and friends and so far have not had to touch our savings to account for the missed work!
*We got to see some family-Greg's mother and brother came down to help us, since we thought baby was coming early.  We got to spend two weeks in fellowship with them and it was so refreshing.  They also pampered me by spending so much time taking care of Elijah, cooking, cleaning, and helping to get my kitchen here before baby arrived!
* We got to spend 4 wks together as a family before our newest addition arrived. It was a time of great revival and renewal for me since Greg and I had worked opposite shifts for over a year so one of us was always home with Elijah.
*Elijah got a lot of last minute attention before he was no longer king of the house! Haha-although he seems to like his baby sister quite a bit.
*We got to see that when you pick a name that means In the Lord's Timing-HE is GOING to prove it!!

So now for the part of my maternity leave that happened after she arrived! She arrived April 6th, via C-section.  Now I had one with Elijah so I wasn't really nervous about how it was going to go, but I will admit I was a bit worried about what would happen after the fact.  Our family had already come out, so now we were going to have a new baby with me just having major surgery and a baby still at home! YIKES! I prayed very hard every day leading up to the birth that things would fall into place and be taken care of both on a financial aspect and for help taking care of Elijah. (I couldn't lift anything over 10lbs and he is 26lbs and not walking!)
The good points:
*We got to watch God carefully ordain everything again!
*Our church family was amazing yet again-Someone came to help me during the day with Elijah and others brought us meals.  Can I just say they are absolutely amazing and we couldn't have done it without them.  
*A wonderful lady and friend from work came by everyday when she got off and helped me out in the afternoons until Greg got home.  She also started teaching me how to garden(something I really wanted to learn well) A blessing in disguise that I definitely wasn't expecting!
*6 more weeks of family time! It has been so amazing to watch Elijah interact with his new sister and to help us form some what of a routine with our new little one-which is still changing since she is still young!
*I got a much needed, longer than expected break from a stressful job-and now I think they appreciate me a bit more! -Always a good thing in my book! (I will say the did appreciate me before as well-I think haha)
* My dad came down and stayed for a week, he helped with the kiddos, did the dishes and he helped me plant a garden(something I had been praying we would be able to do this year, I love the unexpected blessings!)

I have seen God work in so many amazing ways during this maternity leave that it is absolutely amazing.  I can say with more confidence than ever that he works all things together for the good of those who love him! I know there are more blessings that I am forgetting to list and maybe I will come back and add them, but this was getting long.  I am blessed beyond measure and completely treasured my time with my family, and although I am sad to go back to work I know it is what must be done at this point in our lives.  Until then I continue to pray that one day I will get to stay home with my family all day, but until then I will remain content and confident that I am where God wants me at this point in time.

A wedding!

This is a bit late, but it has been quite crazy around here, with getting everything unpacked, children back on schedules, and resting up from a busy but totally and completly fun filled weeked.  We got to see so many friends and family and best of all we got to see my brother in law get married!!   We couldn't have asked for anyone better and she is the perfect match for our brother Matt! So here is our weekend through pictures! The best way to tell a story!

 Arrived at the hotel, all pooped out! My babies are starting to like snuggling each other and that makes me a very happy mommy!

 The family got to meet Athaiah for the first time!

 Rehersal was Friday evening with a wonderful dinner to follow! It was an amazing time spent with family!

 Wedding day is here! (doesn't my little man look so handsome)

 The ring bearers are ready to go-those are some good lookin boys!

 Daddy with his little girl.  A kiss before he had to go line up!

 It's official-The Mr. and Mrs Mathew Turley!

 I love flowers-these were on some of the tables at the reception!

 We got to see a bunch of the people that we grew up with, which was amazing!

We got to see my family in addition to seeing his!

All in all it was a fabulous and busy weekend.  I wish we were all still together though it was so nice to see so many people from home! We know we are were we are supposed to be but hopefully some day soon God will lead us closer to the ones we love! Until next time!

My daddy was here...

It was so wonderful to have my dad here this past week.  We had a ton of fun with him and he really helped us out around the house.  So good to have such a wonderful dad who is always willing to help us out when he is on vacation.

First, he started working more with Elijah on his walking.  I have to say in the week he was here, Elijah has gotten quite a bit better. He still will not let go of us when standing still-he's not totally sure he is brave enough to stand on his own yet! But I'm not rushing it too much, he likes to get into everything like every good child does, so I'm fine with just crawling at this point!

Second, he snuggled Athaiah a lot.  Which is great, because she loves to be held.  She knows the instant you put her down and will usually start fussing so she can get back into your arms. She definitely loves to snuggle(which always makes me happy-there is not much better than baby snuggles)

Third, he did the dishes! This is huge for me since usually I'm the only one that does them here, so it was absolutely amazing to have them done after every meal and to not see a huge pile in the sink(like there is now).

Forth, we got a lot of good talks in and did a lot of catching up and reminiscing which is always a wonderful thing to get to do, since I don't get to see family very often being so far away.

Fifth, he totally updated my yard/garden for me.  I told him I wanted to dig out a whole area of plants and put in veggies, so guess what he did.  He dug it all up and now I have all kinds of veggie plants growing! 

Then I told him I really needed to clean out the other flower beds and rearrange some stuff, and put some more perennials in so that I didn't have to plant so many flowers every year.  So guess what? He got out the shovel and dug up a bunch of plants to thin it out and organize it. He also bought us a beautiful Rose bush, and some perenial seeds!

Put a new flower bed out in front of the house-which I have been wanting to do since we moved in. 

He even worked with Greg on putting landscape timbers in to give the beds some slight definition!  Let's just say I love it all so very much!  Don't you think it looks great? (disclaimer-don't mind some of the wilty looking plants, those are some that we transplanted but will come back looking better next year since they were already starting to bloom when we dug them up)

I will follow up my gardening in some other posts, because I will admit I don't have the greenest thumb, although it does run deep in my family so hopefully I will be able to tap into it for all these wonderful new plants!

He also bought us some fertilizer/dandilion killer, and some new grass seed.  Needless to say our yard looks a bit sad, but will look much better.  I will do a follow up on this one also since you can't see the fertilizer or grass seed!

It was an amazing week and we were all very sad to see him leave yesterday, but look forward to hopefully seeing him sometime soon! Now we are looking forward to this coming weekend when we travel via plane(for the first time with children) to KY for my brother in laws wedding! YEAH more family time, and a wonderful addition to the Turley family!

Growing up

My children are growing up!

We went to the Dr on Thursday and here are the reports:

Elijah is 26.4# and 32.5" tall-who said he could get so big, he is sadly starting to also look less and less like a baby and more like a toddler.  And I just wanted him to stay little forever.

Athaiah is 9# 1.5oz and is 20.75" tall.  Her newborn clothes fit her excellently now, except most are still a bit wide in the legs and rear region as she is a true Turley in these areas!  She is starting to be more and more alert every day.

These two children are pure joy! They are both so amazing in attitude, both very content and happy children.  We couldn't be more blessed and we look forward to continue watching them grow, although they are so snuggly when they are little sometimes I wish they would stay that way forever. But hey that's why you have more children right?!

Life these days...

Where do I even begin, there are so many things happening it is unreal.

It has been a bit hectic here.  Not in a bad way at all, just a lot of people coming and going which makes the house seem a bit crazier than normal. 
Let me explain:

I can't lift anything over 10lbs since I had to have a C-section.  This means I can't life Elijah and he doesn't walk yet.  We have had some wonderful people coming over during the day to help me take care of him.  Which has been much needed and absolutely wonderful to have such caring and willing souls to help us out in a time of need.  Truly shows how much God always provides for our family. 

We have also had people bringing us meals.  Another wonderful blessing!  This is one less thing I have to think about during my crazy days.

Did I mention our dog is a nervous wreck??? He has been a nervous dog since we got him, so as you can imagine all these people coming and going and holding his babies seems to be eating at him a bit.  He does a lot of sighing.  He has also done some peeing when people walk in.  He is much better than he was 2 yrs ago when we got him, but I think it is all getting to be a bit much for him these days.  Poor dog!  He is still an excellent dog, but seems to need a bit more attention these days and after a stressful day he just lays there with this sad look on his face.

I am absolutely loving our new little addition.  She is such a wonderful blessing from God!  She is a good baby.  I didn't think we could get much better than Elijah since he was an amazing baby. Well I think we did!  She sleeps 3-4 hrs at a time at night already!! YEAH!  Elijah was up every 2 hrs all night long to eat until he was 6 months old.  She is very content just like big brother. Did I mention I was excited to have a little girl!  I have painted her toe nails already-hot pink of course!  She also wears a bow in her hair everyday!  I am having so much fun with her!

 I am amazed at how similar yet how different they are.  I know every child is unique it is just so cool to see it play out in our own lives!

Similarities:                                                                           
look identical
content babies
good eaters
easy to put to bed(good sleepers)

Differences:
She sleeps in longer chunks
Gender-obviously
She makes more noise(girl???)
Size-she is much smaller

Just to name a few- mainly as good as we can tell at this point since she is still so young! But as for what they both were like at 1 wk old that is how they are similar and different.

Elijah has been doing pretty good.  He takes some interest in his baby sister, but still isn't quite too sure about her as she takes up mommies time.  He has hit her a couple times-not too hard though so I think we are doing ok.  He has snuggled her a bit, and he loves to climb on the couch and peek at her sleeping in the bassinet!  He has a bit of a hard time with me not picking him up, but he has loved all the people coming to the house.  He is a very social being and gets sad when any of them leave! So sweet. He is also getting so big.  He has learned how to ride his ATV from Grandma and Grandpa.  He has gotten really good at standing himself up-only with something to hold onto though.  He is also started walking in the past few days.  He only creeps along the furniture, but I'm betting it won't be too long before he braves going off on his own.  He really seems to like being able to get around by himself.

Last, my husband! A wonderful man! He has been so amazing.  He has had to do pretty much everything with Elijah.  Before he can leave for work at 7am, he gets Elijah up.  Then he comes home for lunch and helps with him again, holds his baby girl, helps get lunch ready if it's not ready yet, pays attention to me, and the list could go on.  He then comes home after a long day, and plays with Elijah again and does everything he needs.  Helps take care of me, he waits on me since it takes me a bit longer to move around.  He pays attention to Athaiah too, and it is the sweetest thing to watch his face light up when he holds her or even just looks at her.  I couldn't have asked for a better man to take care of us all.  He has truly stepped up to the plate and he is wonderful!

Well, that has been our life the past 10days.  Getting used to running the house semi smooth with two children now! I can't believe we have 2!! What a wonderful blessing they both are, we couldn't be more excited!  Things should start to slow down here soon, given I can start to take care of more things around here to give Greg a break! Side note- I need to take some newborn pictures of Athaih, and we have yet to get a family picture.  I need to work on those two things this week!
What has your week been like??

She's Here!

I'm a little late posting about this, but I have been trying to get some things moving at my house again.  Of course we are moving pretty slow these days!

Our new little addition is here! Athaiah Joy Turley.

She was born on 4-6-12(Good Friday- Can't get much better than that in my opinion) Weighing 7lbs 10oz and she was 20.75" long, via C-section at 7:53am. 

She looks a ton like her big brother-just a bit more petite.

Her big brother loves her, at least so far!

We are blessed to have such a wonderful addition to our family.

This morning

I got a lot done yesterday, but today will definitely be a day of rest for me  I woke up sooo sore.  I guess this pregnant body of mine isn't used to manual labor from 8am-10pm. Makes for a long, but very productive day.

Was all the hard work worth the aches and pains, YOU BET!  It just changed up my morning a bit.  I took a Tylenol first thing (while my coffee was brewing), and since I have been sitting in a chair with the rice bag.  All the while listening to my little man talk to himself in his room and completely entertain himself.  It is times like this I am even more grateful to have such a happy and content baby. I haven't quite decided if my body is ready to pick up his almost 26lb body!

Greg went out to the shooting range this morning.  I'm sure he is having a blast.  You should know I don't like guns one bit but I broke down and bought him one for his birthday this year.  Needless to say he was very surprised!  So every now and then he goes to the range with his boss, and from the bits that I hear (I don't like to hear too much about it), they have a great time.  He needs some male bonding time.

Below is a picture of his gun (this is on here for his benefit), with his new red dot on it:

Quick Note

Just an fyi for anyone who cares! I am going to be spending time the next couple weeks making sure that my basement and kitchen are finished.  Which means the crafting will be on hold, and probably some of the good cooking, but it will be back I promise.  So look for a lot of updates through out the coming weeks on all the progress around the house! I'm in nesting mode and have to make sure this all gets done... After all people I only have about 9 wks left until this baby arrives!!

Stain Remover

This works wonders on all kinds of stains that come with babies, so it has been tested on almost everything under the sun.  It even got blueberry throw up out of a white comforter!

1/2 c hydrogen peroxide
1/2 c baking soda
water

Mix the baking soda, peroxide, and a small amount of water in a bowl.  When the baking soda is well mixed, pour into a squirt bottle and fill the rest of the way up with water.  Before you use it each time you will need to shake it up, but it works wonderful!

Facewash

I have always had really bad acne, and have never found a face wash or scrub that works.  I have been trying to get it under control since I was a teenager.  Unfortunately with this pregnancy it just got worse, so I was willing to try just about anything.  So with nothing to loose, and after reading about it I decided to try honey!  Yep you read that right HONEY! And let me tell you what, it is the most amazing this I have ever used and I don't have a single pimple on my face!  Do you know how long it has been since I have been able to say that? It is wonderful and I would recommend it to anyone who has any type of skin problem.  After all what do you have to loose?

First Christmas Cookie

Here is a couple of pictures of my adorable little man eating his first Christmas cookie!  I think he really enjoyed it, what do you think?

Creativity

My creative juices have been flowing like crazy with the holidays coming up.  So I will have quite a bit of posts coming.  Unfortunately a lot of them are Christmas presents so they will be posted after they have been given.  Just wanted to keep everyone informed that I am very hard at work, but they must stay a secret until after Christmas.  So keep your eyes open as there will be a lot more to come!

Wake up call!

It has been a bit of a rough week in this house.  The hubby is sick and no offense to him, but when he is sick he snores so loud making it difficult for me to fall asleep.  Because of this small problem I have gone to bed no sooner than 1am TWICE this week.  Not too good for a pregnant mommy, who needs some extra sleep.

Since I was already lacking in the sleep department the little man has decided that he is not going to sleep well either.  So the other night he was up from 11:30-1:30am! YIKES.  Talk about a tired mommy, he then decided it was a good idea to be up for the day at 6:30 and that no naps were needed for the day.  This made for a very, very tired mommy.

I am still not quite sure what went wrong or why he was so upset because he cried off and on for the whole 2 hours even while holding him.  We gave him some Tylenol, since daddy is sick, and on top of that it looks like he may be getting another tooth in any day.  Then we gave him a few ounces of milk to see if maybe he was just a little extra hungry. No luck with either of those.  Finally exhausted beyond belief, I took him back upstairs to his room and rocked and rocked and rocked.  He fell asleep while we were rocking... and I almost did.  He laid down so nice in his bed, and mommy slept on the couch just in case he were to get up again, and also to get some good sleep with no snoring.

As much as it was awful at the moment, I wouldn't trade it for the world. I got some great quality time in the middle of the night with a wonderful little snuggle bug.  I just don't hope it returns anytime soon. I mean really who can resist that cute face even if it is in the middle of the night!

Silly guy...

The little man just keeps getting bigger and bigger. It is hard to believe he is 10mo old now and has his first tooth.  He doesn't really move too much, he has the army crawl down but only in reverse, and then he will scoot around on his bottom a bit if he wants to go forward.  He refuses to put any weight on his feet which I find really humorous...reminds me of a certain sister of mine! 

He loves his puppy! I'm so glad that the two of them truly get along so well, they are best buddies and they seem to keep each other very entertained.  In fact, first thing in the morning when I get him up mommy gets a big hug and kiss, and then he starts looking over my shoulder for his doggy.  Then he has to get down and give the puppy a hug and kiss, it is quite funny!

This is him after some blueberry crepes, he seemed to love them, but he loves his food.  I don't think we have found a food yet that he doesn't like!  You can see a little tooth in this picture too, if you look close!

Busy

It has been a busy and exhausting week so far and it is only Tuesday.  Yesterday I had a ton of energy and was able to get some much needed errands done.  I then crashed hard for the afternoon though and spent it mainly doing nothing, which bugs me but I had absolutely no energy.

 Sunday was a great day, I got to spend it with my husband, and he let me take a nap and listened for the baby so I could get some much needed uninterupted sleep.  He also sanded a bit in our basement which is slowly coming along.  Then we went to youth group and had a great time. 

Today on the other hand has not been productive at all. The lil man was extremely needy this morning and wouldn't let me leave his sight (I was lucky to get to the bathroom without him screaming).  Don't know why just must be an off morning because he has always been such a wonderfully happy baby!  He woke up from his nap much better though and is now all kinds of happy and has let me get the dishes done and some light cleaning.  Now if only my energy level would reboot.  I am draging now and considering taking a nap with him as I can hardly keep my eyes open.  I will post more later, hopefully this weekend I will start posting my freezer meals as I have made quite a bit but just haven't uploaded the pictures to put on here yet.

Well off for a small nap!

Wonderful Day

So today was absolutely wonderful.  It only got up to 80, it has been over 100 for way to many days, and was definitely a welcomed event!  So the walk to church was wonderful as it was only like 70 this morning.  We also were able to have a fire outside!  One of my favorite things, I love out door fires and my wonderful mom bought us a fire pit for Christmas when we first moved into our house. So it was great to all be able to sit around the fire in the wonderful fall air. What a wonderful Sunday.  Oh and the little monkey also let us take a nice long nap this afternoon.  I'm telling you, it doesn't get much better than this!