Random Thoughts

Though the outcome of Tuesdays election was not as I hoped and prayed it would be, television is much easier to watch without the angry, smear campaigns running during every commercial break. I would almost vote for the candidate that ran a clean campaign then for the one that wants to tell me how horrible their opponent is. The next presidency comes with some exciting changes which I look forward to seeing, however, at the heart of the matter is the life of thousands of innocents. Those who cannot speak for themselves but whose lives are just as precious and important. They matter, their lives matter and they were created with a purpose. I continue to pray that hearts will change and that those who are pro-abortion (also called pro-choice) will realize that life begins at creation NOT at the first breath. Life is evident in the tiny heartbeats that can be seen and heard even at 5 weeks. This is the first time we heard Evelyn's heartbeat. The next ultrasound we saw little arms and legs. She was only 8 weeks old. Evie's was a life to us in those moments just as much as she was when we held her in our arms. It's something to think about...

It seems like I rarely talk about Shawn and I. We are sharing parenting duties now that I am working 12 hours a week. I can tell that he loves it. How lucky are we that we can stay home with our sweetheart? Shawn has taken up running and is running his first 5k tomorrow. I am going to document it in pictures so I am sure I will have some to share with you tomorrow. He loves it. I hate running/exercising. I was working out for quite some time and then my arthritis flared up and I chose to cut back. Now my symptoms are gone and I should really jump back on the treadmill but ugh, I hate it. I need to just force myself to do it. We just became members of our church and love it there. I work in the nursery and he is an usher. It is another thing that keeps us busy. The only thing that is missing from our lives is some friends. Having family closer would also be great. It gets pretty lonely here sometimes. It's just me, Shawn and Evie. We would love visitors...hint, hint...but what we really need is to develop some relationships with others our age and with similar interests/family situations.

There are going to be some exciting changes happening at our office. Though I can not yet talk/blog about them, know that we are very excited and scared at the direction God is leading us. We would appreciate everyone's prayers for wisdom, growth, and protection for what we are embarking on. We will share more details later.

Everyone who knows me knows how much I love to scrapbook. In the last year I have gotten more into it, especially when it comes to working on Evelyn's scrapbook. Obviously, I love ALL things Evie. I have even been working on some of my old pictures. It is a lot of fun. Unfortunately, I have no one to look at my completed pages because we live so far from family and friends. Hence, I have decided that I am going to start posting my pages so that everyone can enjoy them as much as I do. Currently I am working on Evelyn's 1st birthday pages. This is page has my favorite picture of Evelyn from that day. I also used the wrapping paper from her gifts to make the #1. Maybe you recognize yours in there? My mom did the same for me as I was growing up and I wanted to keep the tradition alive. She did this for every birthday and Christmas. It's something really special.


I hate colds. Evelyn is struggling right now with one and while I don't feel the affects of the cold, I DO get to be kept up every hour throughout the VERY long nights. In fact, I have to go get her now...whew, that went really well. Poor thing! She ran a high fever on Wednesday, up to 102.1 degrees which lasted till this morning. Then she had congestion last night. It seems that her sleep is the most disturbed during illnesses which means that I miss out on lots of sleep. Hopefully, I will not pay for the lost hours of sleep with a cold of my own. The last time I went to the doctor, for my last cold, I asked her why I was getting sick more frequently AND for longer periods. She told me that it was because of my chronic sleep deprivation. Yikes, words I never thought I'd hear...me sleep deprived. I admit that I haven't had a full, uninterrupted nights sleep since probably early 2007. Up during the night to go to the bathroom or being uncomfortable when I was pregnant, and after Evie it's all about nursing and comforting. I am unsure when I will ever be able to sleep through the night again. Most likely, by the time she is sleeping through the night we will be on baby #2. Then there are the other things that keep mamas up at night: worrying about the kids.

Love this picture of Evie. She is smiling so big because she was on her way to the kitchen to throw this little pumpkin. I ended up having to take it from her or risk pumpkin guts all over the floor. Hence, the meltdown picture in the previous post.