It happens every week yet it's refreshing every single time. A new week has so many possibilities.
Our baby girl is on the verge of crawling and she's so determined. I'm so proud of her. She's managed to propel herself forward a couple of times but mostly she spins around and scoots backwards. She's also pushed herself up to sitting a few times but she can't coordinate her arms to push herself all the way vertical yet. She gets so frustrated when she gets stuck somewhere and she makes the cutest little roaring sound. She sounds like a little tiger cub. I love it.
Joey's getting more independent. She's started lying about almost anything it seems. Danny and I have been trying to teach her what it means to tell the truth and why it's so important. We have our ups and downs with it. Sometimes it gets really difficult but she's such a sweet girl. She was sick the other day and for her bedtime prayers she prayed that none of her friends at school get sick. And even though Danny and I have been teaching her about God and the Bible, it amazes me how much she gets it. Faith like a child is really so clear when you see it in actuality everyday. I struggle with trusting in God but she has no doubts.
Joey, Norah and I have been having regular family dance parties in the living room lately. It's super fun. Joey's bopping all over and Norah sings along (sings ahhhhhhh ahh ahh) and sometimes Joey lets me dance with her but mostly she tells me that she needs to do her own moves but then I dance with Norah and she just giggles through it all. I love my girls.
Here's my meal plan of dinners for the week:
Monday: Barbequed ribs & green beans
Tuesday: Mac & Cheese w/ vegetable soup
Wednesday: Crock pot baked beans w/ biscuits & coleslaw
Thursday: Curry Chicken w/ stir-fry veg & rice
Friday: Chickpeas & Couscous w/dried cranberries & herb goat cheese
Saturday: Our 5th Anniversary & Date Night
Sunday: Breakfast for dinner (Eggs & Cinnamon Rolls)
I'll also be making egg salad today for lunches throughout the week and Veggie sticks for quick snacks. Norah's been blazing through her baby food and she's tried just about all the basic food that I use on a regular basis and once I'm done clearing all the foods I can, I'll be making my own baby food from our regular meals with a simple baby food grinder. I've already been making my own with some of the meals that have no questionable ingredients. I've got a few more food to get through: broccoli, tomatoes, beef, pork, and dairy. She no longer breaks out when I have processed dairy (cheese, yogurt, etc.) but when I have straight milk, it still seems to bother her little tummy. :-( So, I'm still on soy milk for now but I'm going to see how she does with some baby yogurt herself this week. If that goes well, I'll be making my own whole milk yogurt in large batches again.
Well, I'm off...Today is Norah's 6 month well visit and I'm excited to see how much she's grown. And I need to talk to the doctor about sleep training possibilities. She's still so petite that I just want to make sure there's no medical reason for her to be up every three hours all night long. This momma needs some sleep
Showing posts with label God. Show all posts
Showing posts with label God. Show all posts
Monday, February 27, 2012
Monday, May 16, 2011
God is Faithful
I have been burning myself out lately as some of you may know. Working, being a mom, pregnant, looking for work, Danny's been in school full time (he finished his last final today) and has been looking for work himself (we're hoping to here this week on a job that we think would be a perfect fit for him). We've been struggling but scraping by and it's just a world of stress.
We decided that this year we were both going to try and carve out time for ourselves to have some alone time before the baby comes. Our church has an annual Women's Retreat that has really kept me from going over the edge the last two years that I attended (courtesy of some lovely ladies that gave me anonymous scholarships). I was beyond grateful.
This year Danny and I decided that no matter what I would go and we would trust God to come up with whatever funds were needed to make that happen. Then two weeks ago, all hell broke lose with our finances and we still felt like God meant for me to go but we now had less than what we needed in our bank account and my unemployment was under review and our utilities were cut off and Social Security threaten to pull Danny's SSI due to our bank changing names. UGH, right?
So, we've been trusting God with it and been honest with the people around us. Our church blessed us by paying a god portion of our rent after we had to use the money we had for it to get our lights turned back on. I've been on the phone with Unemployment everyday for nearly two weeks to make sure that they aren't cutting me off. The ladies had a last minute scholarship open up for half of the cost of the retreat for me. But we still had only $2 in our bank account and no gas in the car. I had to decided for the final count yesterday whether I would go or not, even though nothing had come through yet. We still felt like it was something that I needed and that I should go. So, I told them that I was going and made arrangements to pay the weekend afterwards.
Today, I finally hear that Unemployment is back on track and according to my balance I'm getting all of my back weeks benefits that I've been waiting on, deposited in our account, TOMORROW! Yay! I can pay to go to the retreat. Danny's done with finals. My in-laws gave us a little gas money to hold us over. Hopefully, Danny will be able to get to a clinic today after his other dr's appointment (he's not been feeling well). I should now be able to get things worked out with SSI this week now that I know what I'll be receiving from Unemployment. Then hopefully, I'll be able to get things in order to file for hardship with the utility company once I have my paperwork from Unemployment and SSI so that they can't shut us off again.
Things plummeted very fast and now they're back on the upswing. God is good and faithful! And sometimes we just have to take that leap of faith and trust Him before we can see what's coming.
We decided that this year we were both going to try and carve out time for ourselves to have some alone time before the baby comes. Our church has an annual Women's Retreat that has really kept me from going over the edge the last two years that I attended (courtesy of some lovely ladies that gave me anonymous scholarships). I was beyond grateful.
This year Danny and I decided that no matter what I would go and we would trust God to come up with whatever funds were needed to make that happen. Then two weeks ago, all hell broke lose with our finances and we still felt like God meant for me to go but we now had less than what we needed in our bank account and my unemployment was under review and our utilities were cut off and Social Security threaten to pull Danny's SSI due to our bank changing names. UGH, right?
So, we've been trusting God with it and been honest with the people around us. Our church blessed us by paying a god portion of our rent after we had to use the money we had for it to get our lights turned back on. I've been on the phone with Unemployment everyday for nearly two weeks to make sure that they aren't cutting me off. The ladies had a last minute scholarship open up for half of the cost of the retreat for me. But we still had only $2 in our bank account and no gas in the car. I had to decided for the final count yesterday whether I would go or not, even though nothing had come through yet. We still felt like it was something that I needed and that I should go. So, I told them that I was going and made arrangements to pay the weekend afterwards.
Today, I finally hear that Unemployment is back on track and according to my balance I'm getting all of my back weeks benefits that I've been waiting on, deposited in our account, TOMORROW! Yay! I can pay to go to the retreat. Danny's done with finals. My in-laws gave us a little gas money to hold us over. Hopefully, Danny will be able to get to a clinic today after his other dr's appointment (he's not been feeling well). I should now be able to get things worked out with SSI this week now that I know what I'll be receiving from Unemployment. Then hopefully, I'll be able to get things in order to file for hardship with the utility company once I have my paperwork from Unemployment and SSI so that they can't shut us off again.
Things plummeted very fast and now they're back on the upswing. God is good and faithful! And sometimes we just have to take that leap of faith and trust Him before we can see what's coming.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Sunday Reflections
So, I'm enjoying some last few minutes of quiet before Sunday morning really begins. Next week is Mother's Day and I'm almost in shock to think that next year, I'll have two little girls to celebrate with. It makes my heart smile. Joey is just getting so big and I almost can't believe that my pregnancy is winding down again. And soon our bustling little household of three will be a household of four. We still don't know how we're going to make all the schedules work, but somehow, it will. God will provide, that I'm sure of.
The weather's getting warmer and it's so fun to be outside. I love spring. The only thing that would make spring better for me would be if I had a yard to plant in. I was talking to my grandmother the other day, and I was telling her how I ache to garden and plant things. She said simply, 'we come from farmers, it's in your blood.' How true that is! She grew up on a farm, my mom grew up on a farm, I spent my summers growing up on a farm. There's nothing like it in the world. No city can compare to it. No matter where I go, it's with me. My heart longs to farm, to have my life ebb and flow with the seasons. I can't escape it, and I can barely contain it. I feel most myself and most connected to God when I'm doing something with my hands or when I'm out in nature. It's my home.
It makes me yearn more for our move to Colorado. I've been peeking at places out there only sporadically since we postponed the move, but it makes me excited to know that since cost of living is so much lower out there and since the lifestyle out there lends itself more to self-sufficiency, I might actually be able to have a yard, or at least a little piece of land to dig in and grow things. We are just floundering here sometimes.
There is so much pressure in New-England to perform, perform, perform! And with the job market being so flooded, and work being so hard to find (and neither of us having found any in quite some time), it'll be really nice for the change of pace. Not to mention the change in cost of things. Generally, the cost of living out in CO is 60% of what it is here. Such a big cut for us since we're living in a constant state of deficit.
For those of you not up to date on our finances: We have 0 money. We're living off of Social Security Supplemental Income, Unemployment benefits, my part-time wages, food stamps, coupons and anything we can save after books from Danny's Pell Grant from school. It's not much and it doesn't sustain us. We haven't paid our utilities in over a year and we just keep praying that the lights stay on, but we have no means to pay them. It's all we can do to keep the rent paid and food on the table and diapers of Joey's tush (though hopefully not much longer on that last one). Now, our SSI got pulled, though I'm hoping that's just a technicality due to our bank changing names. One of us needs to find work or some means of support SOON. But God hasn't shown us where that will be coming from yet. We keep looking but we're not finding.
Any prayers you'd be willing to throw up for us would be greatly appreciated. We sure could use the extra intercession. Danny's finishing up finals this month and he's trying to figure out if God even means for him to go back to school in the fall or if he needs to work (should he be able to find any). It's a rough road we're on. There's a light not only at the end of it but not too far off by the way of Colorado, but the mean time however is totally unclear to us.
Well, I should go wake up the family and get us moving and ready for church. I'm excited for what God has in store for us. I just wish that I could see it a little better.
The weather's getting warmer and it's so fun to be outside. I love spring. The only thing that would make spring better for me would be if I had a yard to plant in. I was talking to my grandmother the other day, and I was telling her how I ache to garden and plant things. She said simply, 'we come from farmers, it's in your blood.' How true that is! She grew up on a farm, my mom grew up on a farm, I spent my summers growing up on a farm. There's nothing like it in the world. No city can compare to it. No matter where I go, it's with me. My heart longs to farm, to have my life ebb and flow with the seasons. I can't escape it, and I can barely contain it. I feel most myself and most connected to God when I'm doing something with my hands or when I'm out in nature. It's my home.
It makes me yearn more for our move to Colorado. I've been peeking at places out there only sporadically since we postponed the move, but it makes me excited to know that since cost of living is so much lower out there and since the lifestyle out there lends itself more to self-sufficiency, I might actually be able to have a yard, or at least a little piece of land to dig in and grow things. We are just floundering here sometimes.
There is so much pressure in New-England to perform, perform, perform! And with the job market being so flooded, and work being so hard to find (and neither of us having found any in quite some time), it'll be really nice for the change of pace. Not to mention the change in cost of things. Generally, the cost of living out in CO is 60% of what it is here. Such a big cut for us since we're living in a constant state of deficit.
For those of you not up to date on our finances: We have 0 money. We're living off of Social Security Supplemental Income, Unemployment benefits, my part-time wages, food stamps, coupons and anything we can save after books from Danny's Pell Grant from school. It's not much and it doesn't sustain us. We haven't paid our utilities in over a year and we just keep praying that the lights stay on, but we have no means to pay them. It's all we can do to keep the rent paid and food on the table and diapers of Joey's tush (though hopefully not much longer on that last one). Now, our SSI got pulled, though I'm hoping that's just a technicality due to our bank changing names. One of us needs to find work or some means of support SOON. But God hasn't shown us where that will be coming from yet. We keep looking but we're not finding.
Any prayers you'd be willing to throw up for us would be greatly appreciated. We sure could use the extra intercession. Danny's finishing up finals this month and he's trying to figure out if God even means for him to go back to school in the fall or if he needs to work (should he be able to find any). It's a rough road we're on. There's a light not only at the end of it but not too far off by the way of Colorado, but the mean time however is totally unclear to us.
Well, I should go wake up the family and get us moving and ready for church. I'm excited for what God has in store for us. I just wish that I could see it a little better.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Salty fresh goodness
I don't know what it is about the beach that is just so centering for me. The salty fresh air (today it was slightly tainted by the smell of skunk), the rocks and the water. It's a magical place for me. I feel like everything will be o.k. when I'm at the beach no matter what my circumstances are. Today it was muddy and still a little snowy but it's still the beach for me. The seagulls cawing over head. Joey throwing shells into the sea. Danny and I taking turns pushing the stroller or carrying Joey around the massive puddles and piles of dog poo that got buried in the snow and are now re-appearing. All the non fun bits are totally washed over by the fact that it's the beach. The soothing wonderful beach. The sound of the waves and the salty wind revive me.
I don't know what I'll do without it when we move to CO. I'm an ocean girl, not a mountain girl. But I'm sure I'll be able to find a rock and a babbling brook somewhere to still my soul. That's what I used to do when I was in high school. I'd go to the park and I had my little spot by the brook, and my tree by the pond. I could watch the snapping turtles swim and the tad pole blossom. I miss nature so much sometimes. I need more nature! I really do. I will have my place one day. Where that will be, I don't know. God doesn't seem to be leading me to a firm place yet. We're still in a transitional place as a family. With another one on the way and a move to CO next year everything is all up in the air.
I don't know where I'll end up. I don't even think I have a place that'd I'd prefer. I mean I loved living in Philly, but I would not want to try and raise kids there. Delaware was nice and I always loved visiting but I've never lived there. Kittanning, PA and the family farm will always have a piece of my heart, but I don't think that Danny could be that far away from everything. Boulder, CO has definite potential but I've never been there and going now at God's urging and not my own so who knows where life will take me. Hopefully somewhere warmer or at least sunnier.
I can't take all the grey and gloom of New England sometimes. I need some more sun, I need to be not cooped up in the house so much. I need to be outside and digging in the dirt and running around with my little one(s).
I don't know what I'll do without it when we move to CO. I'm an ocean girl, not a mountain girl. But I'm sure I'll be able to find a rock and a babbling brook somewhere to still my soul. That's what I used to do when I was in high school. I'd go to the park and I had my little spot by the brook, and my tree by the pond. I could watch the snapping turtles swim and the tad pole blossom. I miss nature so much sometimes. I need more nature! I really do. I will have my place one day. Where that will be, I don't know. God doesn't seem to be leading me to a firm place yet. We're still in a transitional place as a family. With another one on the way and a move to CO next year everything is all up in the air.
I don't know where I'll end up. I don't even think I have a place that'd I'd prefer. I mean I loved living in Philly, but I would not want to try and raise kids there. Delaware was nice and I always loved visiting but I've never lived there. Kittanning, PA and the family farm will always have a piece of my heart, but I don't think that Danny could be that far away from everything. Boulder, CO has definite potential but I've never been there and going now at God's urging and not my own so who knows where life will take me. Hopefully somewhere warmer or at least sunnier.
I can't take all the grey and gloom of New England sometimes. I need some more sun, I need to be not cooped up in the house so much. I need to be outside and digging in the dirt and running around with my little one(s).
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