The Hollander Happenings

A Great Christmas Idea

2010-12-23T23:32:00.002-05:00

Blake and I are going to be at our house this year on Christmas day with our kids (something that has never happened before!). We are sad to not be with family in Oklahoma and to not be down with my family sooner, but we are really excited to start some traditions of our own and be able to celebrate this day with our little family! I have been thinking a lot about traditions and what kind of things we want to incorporate into our family during the Christmas season. We have been reading Advent passages (not 100% faithfully mind you!) to prepare our hearts for the true meaning of this season, when Jesus "who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant,being born in the likeness of men" (Philippians 2:6-7).

I have loved reading what other people do during the Christmas season with their families and have tried to find ideas that will point us back to Jesus. I want to share a very simple, but I think very effective idea to get our hearts and minds in the right place.

"I thought of you..."

On Christmas mornings ever since my now six foot tall sons (3) were little, we GIVE our gifts. The pile by each person has the gifts they are giving, not getting, and "I thought you could use this Dad" or "I thought of you the minute I saw it" can be heard instead of "it's MY turn".

This was on one of the GirlTalk blog posts (one of my favorite websites) about Christmas traditions. Check out the full post here.

What a great way to turn the attention from what I am getting to what I am giving! I am looking forward to starting this with our family this year, and praying that this little practice will assist my little ones to be more mindful of giving than receiving.

The Past Three Months....

2010-12-21T15:30:00.003-05:00

Well, three months have passed since my last post. I thought I would get back into this with some highlights and pictures of what has been going on with our little family in the past few months!

I had the wonderful opportunity to get away with some college girlfriends one weekend in October. This was the first time in 2 years that I went away without my kids! It was a big deal! I was a big mess of emotions: excited, nervous, guilty, sad, happy! It was crazy! On the way down the a song played and contained this line, "I miss everything about you." I had to change the channel! I was getting a little emotional thinking about my kids! Such a mom! : ) Blake had a wonderful weekend with the kids (his very first time with them by himself for an extended amount of time!). He informed me that he made it church on time with the kids (a feat we rarely accomplish with two parents home, hmm....maybe that says something about me...!) and he even put a bow in Karis' hair! Wow! I was totally impressed, and informed him I would plan another weekend getaway since he is daddy extraordinaire! While I was away he even got out and about and took the kids to a pumpkin patch! As much fun as I had with my girlfriends, I was a little jealous that I missed this moment with my family. Here is a picture of the fun they had...

Next we come to Halloween. We had a fun get together with our small group from church, where we encouraged everyone to dress up! Karis and Owen were adorable as a bunny rabbit and a monkey! (Yay for hand-me-down costumes!)

We spent Thanksgiving down at my mom's house, and had a mini family photo shoot. Here are some shots from that day...

And now for the current update. Blake finished up his semester at school almost a week ago. It has been so nice to not have the stress of tests and assignments on his mind. He has one class this spring (a pass/fail course, so shouldn't be to difficult at all!), and then, HE WILL GRADUATE!!!! I can't believe are coming into the last semester of his seminary career! It's exciting! But, we don't know what we will do post graduation yet. Lots of prayer is going on for sure!

One last picture from our small group Christmas party last week. Get excited for Christmas friends! Jesus came! His birth, death, and resurrection gives us hope! Praise the Lord!

Merry Christmas!
(almost!)

My First Yard Sale

2010-09-25T13:07:00.002-04:00

So, I've never done a yard sale as a married woman. Actually, I've only ever contributed things to yard sales that my mom had and did all the work for. This was quite an experience let me tell you! Number one thing I learned, advertisement is KEY! We didn't advertise until yesterday, ok let's be honest, it was last night before we put the signs up! Mistake number one folks! You have got to get the word out much sooner. That's one of those things that I knew but just didn't get around to doing. We also wanted to put an ad on Craig's list to promote it, but didn't get around to doing that either. People talk about the early birds that will come to yard sales and we were expecting to have lots of people when we got going. But the first hour only 2 people came! Those 2 people came at around 7:45! It was slow! Got to advertise!

Second thing I learned, don't plan a yard sale when you have something going on the night before. I had a Pampered Chef party for a lady last night and didn't get home until almost 10. I then had to finish up some things for the yard sale. I didn't get in the bed until 1 am, and the alarm went off at 5:45 am. This was the first time in a long while that I actually had felt like I had just laid down to go to sleep and then it was time to get up again. I will plan out my events a little better next time!

I think I made a whopping $11 this morning, which will buy my movie ticket when I go out later this afternoon for girly movie time! (Going to see You Again, and very excited!) Oh well, you live and learn, and then try again!

One really really cute story to share about Karis at the yard sale....

Karis stayed out and played while I was doing the yard selling today. She had so much fun and was checking out everything that my neighbor and I were offering. After a while a group of people came out to look at things. Karis followed a man up to our table and started showing him things! She would point to an item and say, "look," then move to another item, pat it and say, "It's nice," then she headed to our diaper genie, pointed and said, "pretty!" She was trying to sell our stuff! It was priceless! She offered us some comic relief on the sad yard sale day!

Any tips you have for yard selling? I would love to hear them for future reference! Ok, time for a nap for this tired household!

Karis and the Moon

2010-09-22T23:24:00.003-04:00

Karis is adorable. I love the way she is learning things and communicating them to us! Tonight on the way home from being in downtown Raleigh, she looked out the window, and with great enthusiasm, said "Look at the moon! It's a circle! Oh my goodness! It's so pretty!" Every time she would catch a glimpse of it she would tell us to "look at the moon!" It was so great!

We have begun going through the catechism for young children at this website here.
We ask her, "Karis, who made you?" and she has two regular responses. It's either Karis or Grand-Daddy! After we say no and point up she says "God." We ask her "What else did God make?" And doing a fun little hand motion she says "everything!" It's so neat to watch her learn things and see her growing in the knowledge of the Truth! I'm praying that we will be faithful to teach our little ones about the great God that made the pretty circle moon and everything else!

September Already???

2010-09-06T16:01:00.003-04:00

I cannot believe August came and went, and I didn't post one single thing! Wow! Well, I have some fun stuff to share about the kids so I thought I would put a little something on here today. (Don't have too much time though, we have a Labor Day cookout to get to shortly!)

My little Karis is talking so much and is learning more words and phrases. Her favorite phrase right now is "Where is ___" So it may be where is daddy, where is Owen, where is mommy, etc. She asks multiple times in the day "Where is Camden?" "Where is Co-Co?" "Where is La-La?" Camden and Co-Co are her cousins, and La-La is my sister (Cam and Co-Co's mom). I don't know if she's actually asking for her Aunt Lala, or she thinks that my mom's name is Lala. When she sees a picture of my mom she says, "Ahh!! Lala!" So, I think she's a little confused. She's constantly asking for people or things. I heard her ask today, "Where is milk?" She's a funny little girl!

She's also started a funny thing in the mornings. I usually leave the kids in their cribs for a little while in the mornings before I go down and get them. Karis' new thing to do (which I hear on the monitor) is ask, "where is mommy?" and then she proceeds to yell at the top of her lungs, "Mooooooommmmmmmyyyyyyy!!!" It's quite hilarious!

Owen is finally sleeping through the night (a day I was beginning to wonder if it would ever come!) and is such a sweet little baby! I so enjoy seeing his little face light up when he smiles and hearing his little laugh that his sister gets out of him! He loves Karis and I can't wait to see them play more together. He is still not crawling or pulling up or anything, but he can roll around like a pro!

Blake is back to school and working, so we are still adjusting to the new schedule. It has been a really fun summer and I'm sad to see it go. But, I am quite ready for the change in the seasons and all the wonderful things that come with the fall!

Family picture at the beach

Cow Appreciation Day 2010

2010-07-09T23:13:00.006-04:00

July 9 is Cow Appreciation Day. This is not one of those days that most people have written down on their calendars and look forward to all year long. But now, I will be looking forward to 2011's celebration of our bovine friends! Chick-fil-a (definitely my go to/favorite fast food restaurant) has a generous way of celebrating this wonderful day of the year. If you dress up like a cow (attempt a head to toe costume) you get a free meal! It is awesome! I'll take free chick-fil-a however I can get it, so you best believe I was dressed up like a cow! Not only myself, but Blake and the kids too! We all received free meals! Well, we didn't cash in on Owen's, but we probably could have. We joined our friends Cory and Autumn and their little girl and had a wonderful meal, made even better by the fact that it was free! : )

Here are a few pictures of my sweet little calves.....

Not sure why this picture is so small. I made the onsie for him. I think this is my favorite picture of him thus far in his little life! He was so stinkin cute tonight! : )

I think Karis looks more like a cross between a cat and a cow. I didn't know how else to do the ears, but they definitely look cat-like to me!

It was such a fun night with the family and our friends! I am seriously looking forward to next year! : ) Here is to Cow Appreciation Day!

My little Talkers

2010-07-08T21:47:00.005-04:00

Karis is now officially two years old! That is just crazy to me! With her growing up comes some fun new things, and one thing is her talking more and more! She has said some funny things in the past few days, and this is one I just have to share!

Karis has a new phrase that she is saying a lot. If she is playing with Owen and he happens to grab her hair or in any other way accidentally hurt her she makes a grimacing face and says, "Oww! Ee it me." (He hit me) We have no clue where she got this from! We are trying to teach her that Owen is not hitting her and that he doesn't mean to hurt her. We are also trying not to laugh when she says this too! It is funny, but definitely don't want to encourage a habit or tattle-telling! I've actually heard her say this when she bumps into inanimate objects as well! She's crazy!

Owen is almost 6 months old now! (How crazy is that!) He is starting to get a lot more vocal too! Pretty sure he said "da-da" this week, though it was in midst of babbling! He says "ba-ba" and "da-da" now. He is getting so big, and so cute!

My kids, man do I love them!

What a night....

2010-07-01T00:12:00.002-04:00

I think it will be therapeutic to write out this amazingly horrible night. First let me give some back ground info....

We are on our way back from our big trip out west (which I will have to blog about another time to share all the fun that we had!) and planned before we left to stop and spend the night somewhere on our way back. Normally we push through and drive through the night, but Owen is NOT a good car rider and needs a break. So, we decided to drive to Nashville, TN which would put us over halfway home. I had this idea in my head that we would have a fun evening together, stay at a hotel with restaurants nearby so we could walk around, and just relax and have fun as a family! Well.....let me just tell you how the evening actually played out.

About an hour before getting to Nashville Owen started screaming and crying. It wasn't time to eat, he was just ready to be out of the car! We knew we were getting really close so we just kept going (mistake number one). My wonderful mom got online for us and started looking up hotels that were in the Nashville area. After calling a few we decided we would hit up a Holiday Inn Express that was outside of town a bit. Blake then said that we should have my mom check on Expedia to see if there were any deals on hotels in downtown Nashville (mistake number two). We thought it would be fun to stay right in the heart of things (mistake number three). Mom found a deal for Best Western in downtown, so we decide we will go for it instead of the Holiday Inn Express (mistake number four). With Owen still screaming we just wanted to get out of the car and into a hotel! We didn't clearly listen to my Mom while she gave us directions and couldn't find the hotel. We turned around and finally got on the right road. We found the hotel, and we were not too happy with what we found!

The hotel is not in the best looking area of town and we did not want to stay there. So, I started asking how we could cancel the reservation. The lady at the front desk said that we would have to go through Expedia (who we just booked the hotel with about 10 minutes earlier). So, I call expedia. They have to contact the manager of the hotel to see if we can cancel. We start driving away to head to the Holiday Inn Express when the expedia lady comes back on the phone to tell me that unfortunately the Best Western will not issue us a refund. So, we turn around and grin and bear the hotel. I'm trying to stay positive and think that we can still have a nice night even if we are in a not so good hotel. But, things don't get any better.

We get to the hotel, check in and find out that we are on the fourth floor. Not the easiest thing with two kids, but ok, we will deal with it. We get the kids inside with a few luggage items and wait for the elevator. After standing at the elevator for close to five minutes a hotel employee (who had been standing there the whole time) comes over to inform us that the elevator is being worked on and won't be ready for 30 minutes or so! AND WE ARE ON THE FOURTH FLOOR!!!!! I was shocked! I just couldn't believe it! We carried our little ones up to our room and Blake went and got more luggage. While he was gone, both my kids were screaming and crying, and I just wanted to join in with them!

Still trying to stay positive, we get dressed and walk a little ways to go get dinner (the one thing I really wanted to do that we actually did!) We ate at a place called Otter's. Ordered our food, and I misspoke and ordered the wrong thing only realizing it after we had paid. Dinner was pretty pleasant, then we got back to the hotel. Owen was over this whole being out and being up thing, so he started screaming and crying again. I put Karis in the bath and let her play a bit while I passed Owen over to Blake. When I got back to Karis saw that she had pooped in the tub. Yep, that was awesome. Who doesn't want to clean poop from a hotel bathroom after a frustrating evening! : ) Owen finally calmed down and went to sleep, Karis finally wound down and went to sleep, and Blake and I are now getting some much needed rest.

I've been trying to think positively and be thankful all night in midst of one frustration after another, and let me tell you it has been a challenge! Karis has a veggie tale video and the words to one of the songs has rung in my ears all evening "A thankful heart is a happy heart..." I have not had a happy heart but I am fighting for it! I am thankful for God's grace and that He is in control, even over nights where nothing goes your way! He is good even when my circumstances are not.

Ahh...that was therapeutic. What a night, what a night! I sure hope the rest of our drive home is uneventful and smooth! Here is to having a happy, thankful heart!

Still Here....

2010-06-16T12:12:00.002-04:00

It's 12:12 pm, and the van is still not ready. If it's not ready by 5 pm we are going to take my mom's car that they have so graciously offered us. It's smaller than the van, so we will be much tighter. But, we need to get to Iowa! Please say a prayer that our van will be fixed by 5 o'clock tonight.

Once again, in our heart we planned our way, but our Lord is directing the steps. Hopefully we will be on the road soon. I will update later today.

Our Trip Has Been Delayed....

2010-06-15T22:04:00.003-04:00

Grrr....our trip to Iowa has been delayed by about 12 hours or so. The plan was to leave here tonight around 8 or 9 pm, but now we are leaving tomorrow morning sometime. We came down to my Mom's on Sunday evening to have our van worked on before we head out for our trip. The AC has not been working and we were not about to drive halfway across the country with no AC!!!! So, we dropped the van off Monday morning at 9 am, they worked on it, got a call Tuesday morning saying that they discovered it was the condenser and they had to go get the part in Charlotte. At one o'clock they told us that the part was in and they would call us when it was ready. We didn't hear anything until almost five o'clock when they let us know that they found another problem and the van wouldn't be fixed until Wednesday morning. I am so thankful for the guys working on the van and the extent that they are going to to get this thing fixed! But, I'm still a little bummed that our plan is not working out the way we, well, planned.

We had ourselves psyched up for the night drive (Blake stayed up until 5am last night and slept half the day to prepare for the drive) and had our plan in our mind as to how things were hopefully going to go. Now, we are waiting. We hope the van will be done early tomorrow, but they didn't give us an exact time. I'm shooting for before noon. That would be great! We will see though. I am ready to get this big drive over, and really wish that half the trip could have been driven through the night while the kids were sleeping. Well, I keep thinking this verse and taking comfort in it...

"In his heart a man plans his course,

but the Lord determines his steps."

Proverbs 16:9

This delay doesn't surprise the Lord. I've been trying to think on the positives too. Today was my dad's birthday and we were able to spend more time with him this evening. We are able to spend one more night with my mom and step-dad (who had knee surgery today!). We were able to get our hair cut by my fabulous sister! The kids, as well as Blake and I, will get a good night's rest. We are still going to take our time and stop when we need to with the kids. We will probably stop and spend the night somewhere tomorrow night too.

So, we are going to be ok. God just wanted us to leave Wednesday during the day instead of Tuesday night. I'm a little more anxious about driving in the middle of the day with our little ones! Prayers are again most appreciated! I'll let everyone know how it goes in a day or so!

Our Big Trip Out West

2010-06-14T23:20:00.005-04:00

Tomorrow the family and I are off on a big adventure. We are driving to Iowa. Did you get that? DRIVING to IOWA! If you are unfamiliar with where Iowa is, just think the very center of the U.S., then straight up almost to Canada (Minnesota is between Iowa and Canada). Without stopping the drive should take 20 hours. Did you get that? 20 HOURS IN THE CAR! And we have two under 2! So, if it's not clear from this post already, I'm a little nervous/not looking foward to this LOOOOONG drive. I would greatly appreciate all the prayers we can get for this!

Though I'm not excited about the drive, there are several things I am excited about with this big trip. First, I'm so excited to have some extended time being together as a family. Blake works a lot during the week and we are often busy with things, so it will be nice to just have some good time together as a family over these next two weeks (we won't be back until the end of the month). I am excited to make memories with our little family of 4! I am hoping to make the most of the drive out, so we are planning on stopping for longer periods of time to just get out and play and run around some! Should be fun!

I am also excited to see all the family out west! Blake's family is mainly in OK (we will be traveling there after our time in Iowa) and we get to see them about once a year. Most of them have not met our little Owen yet, so I'm thankful to get out there so soon after he was born. We will be having a family reunion in Iowa with Blake's dad's side of the family, and there are some fun things planned for our time there. Once down in OK we will see Blake's mom's side of the family. I'm just so ready to see everyone, and wish this 20 hour drive wasn't in our way (if only flying were much much cheaper!).

We will be making a stop in Branson, Missouri too! I have heard so much about this place and I am just SO excited to have some time there! We will be visiting with Blake's step-mom there!

Lots of family time and lots of fun on the way! I know it's going to be a great trip overall, but the drive, ughh! Again, prayers are much appreciated!

A Great Moment

2010-06-04T22:49:00.004-04:00

I think I had my favorite moment (thus far) with my two kids tonight. As I was getting ready to put the kids to bed tonight, I found myself with Owen sitting on my lap in the glider and Karis sitting on the footstool facing us. She started making a little sound that Owen found quite funny, and so he started giggling. She stopped, so I prodded her a bit to keep on since Owen really liked it. So, she started doing some other crazy things (just shaking her head back and forth and making noises) which proceeded to make Owen laugh even more! And then Karis started cracking up, which made Owen laugh more, which made Karis laugh more! All the while I'm laughing and just trying to soak up this sweet sweet memory with my two kiddos! Owen ADORES his big sister! He lights up when she comes around, and she does alot seeing how she LOVES her little "bubba!"

One day they may not like each other very much at times and may fight and get angry with one another, but I will remember back to the sweet times when they just liked to laugh at eachother. I'll remember how sweet they were with eachother, and I will try my best to remind them of that too! But, I sure hope there are more moments like these as the days go along!

Our Four Month Old Needed a Hair Cut!!

2010-06-02T23:20:00.003-04:00

I am still intending on sharing pictures from our getaway weekend at the lake with my family, but I have something else to share tonight!

Our little sweet Owen has had some interesting hair for a while now. Most of his hair has fallen out, except for right down the middle (natural mohawk). Also, at the end of his little mohawk has been this little bunch of hair, affectionately called the "tuft" of hair. It somewhat resembled a rooster's tail! For a while we have been saying, "the tuft has got to go!" So last night, we gave our little four month old his first hair cut! We captured the whole event on camera, so enjoy the footage!

(The first video is of the cutting of the tuft, the second is finishing the hair cutting process, with a little bit of proof of life thrown in at the end!)

So, what do you think?? He looks good without the tuft, huh?!?

Excuses for not blogging in a week.....

2010-05-25T23:18:00.002-04:00

We were out of town for the weekend, I've not felt so great since we've been back, I have two kids under two, Blake finished up his semester last week, went super double coupon shopping at Harris Teeter, I had to pack for our weekend getaway, we didn't take the computer on the trip, watched the Lost finale (all 4 1/2 lovely hours), contemplated the lost finale for a while, and have been reading articles about lost after the lost finale.

I should be back in gear tomorrow with some pictures from our weekend away!

Karis' Prayer

2010-05-18T22:52:00.002-04:00

For a long time Karis has been great about being quiet and holding our hands when it's time to pray over our meals. She bows her head, peaks up on occasion, and then excitedly says "Amen" after us. Recently we started having her repeat a small prayer after us, just to practice. This is how it goes.....

Daddy: Karis say, "Dear"
Karis: Dear
Daddy: God
Karis: God
Daddy: Thank you
Karis: Thank you
Daddy: For
Karis: Five (instead of repeating, she starts counting!)
Daddy: the food
Karis: the food

We have been working with her on counting, so it's good to see she is connecting the numbers together. I think our next lesson will be on homonymns though! : )

Until then we'll enjoy her little prayers thanking God five the food!

Proof of Life

2010-05-17T17:06:00.003-04:00

Snack time and veggie tales video

Today, I was talking to Karis and telling her how much I loved her and how I wouldn't trade her for anything. I hugged her and kissed her, then she grabbed my face to kiss my cheek (I thought) and proceeded to blow a raspberry instead. Priceless moment with my girl! She's awesome!

Tasty, Easy, Low Fat Dessert

2010-05-13T22:19:00.002-04:00

We had the opportunity to fix a meal tonight for some friends of ours who just had a sweet baby girl a few weeks ago. I made my favorite chicken and rice casserole (a staple of my childhood), green beans, salad, biscuits, and a little dessert. I like to call them little pudding pies, and I want to share the recipe with anyone who may be interested in a very tasty and not so bad for you sweet treat. I made these a lot after having Karis as a way to indulge without feeling so guilty!

Little Pudding Pies

1 pack of sugar free fat free Jello Pudding (I use chocolate or chocolate fudge, but any pudding will work)

1 cup of fat free milk

1 cup of fat free whipped cream (plus extra to top the pies with)

1 pack of keebler mini graham cracker crusts (they come in a pack of 6)

Combine the jello and the milk in a medium size bowl. Mix until the jello is mostly combined with the milk.

Add the whipped cream and mix until thoroughly combined.

Fill each mini crust with the pudding mixture.

Top each pudding pie with whipped cream

You can also add little extras to the top of each pie too. I have done chocolate sprinkles and some fruit. I once used oreo pudding and put crumbled oreos on top (a little less good for you, but still not too bad!)

Also, you can make it in a regular graham cracker crust, but I would double the recipe to allow enough to fill it entirely.

So, that's my little recipe! So simple and easy, and so very yummy! Try it out, and let me know what you think!

Proof of Life

2010-05-11T16:04:00.004-04:00

I got the "Proof of Life" idea from a friend who got the idea from a friend. To see the explanation for this series go here.

What does an almost two year old, a pen, and Daddy's Westminster Larger Catechism equal.....

Mother's Day and Owen's Baby Dedication

2010-05-09T23:15:00.003-04:00

What a day this has been! My third mother's day as a mother (we celebrated when I was pregnant with Karis too) and it was great! I am so thankful for my kids and so proud to be their momma! They are growing up so very fast. Makes me sad if I think about it too long, so instead I'll just get to some pictures of our day....

In addition to Mother's Day, we also celebrated Owen's baby dedication at church. There were twelve babies presented before the church today (and lots more little ones on the way). It was a time of thanking God for the gift that these children are, asking the church family to help us in the spiritual shaping of our children, and asking the Lord to guide our children to saving faith in Jesus Christ. We were asked this list of questions during the dedication:

Do you today recognize these children as the gifts of God and give heartfelt thanks for God’s blessing?
Do you now dedicate your children to the Lord who gave them to you all, surrendering all worldly claims upon their lives in the hope that they will belong wholly to God?
Do you pledge as parents that, with God’s fatherly help you will bring up your children “in the discipline and instruction of the Lord,” making every reasonable effort, with patience and love, to build the Word of God, the character of Christ and the joy of the Lord into their lives?
Do you promise to provide, through God’s blessing, for the physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual needs of your children, looking to your own heavenly Father for the wisdom, love and strength to serve them and not use them?
Do you promise, God helping you, to make it your regular prayer that, by God’s grace, your children will come to trust in Jesus Christ alone for the forgiveness of their sins and for the fulfillment of all his promises to them, even eternal life; and in this faith follow Jesus as Lord and obey his teachings?

The section that I highlighted there is a line that has stood out to me since Karis' baby dedication (where we were asked these same questions). This line sums up what the baby dedication is, a surrendering of all worldly claims on my child's life. I firmly believe that my children are ultimately the Lord's. He has seen fit to entrust them to me for a time, and I am to be a good steward of this gift of motherhood. Whatever He chooses to do with their lives is His concern, and I am to trust Him completely. These are difficult things to say and believe in my flesh, and I know that as they get older it will become more and more difficult. But they are the Lord's. I will do all I can do to provide for them, protect them, teach them, love them and be an example for them. But at the end of each day I must say, these children are the Lord's.

I dedicate you, my little baby Owen, to the Lord who gave you to me, surrendering all worldly claims upon your life in the hope that you will belong wholly to God. And, I promise to make it my regular prayer that, by God's grace, you will come to trust in Jesus Christ alone for the forgiveness of your sins, and that you will follow Jesus as Lord and obey His teachings.

I love you,

Momma

Saturday Fun

2010-05-08T15:13:00.003-04:00

The kids and I went over to our great friend Lisa's house today for lunch with some other fun girls. After having a yummy tropical salad with beans and fruit and veggies (but no meat!) Lisa made us all milkshakes. And, miss Karis enjoyed a little milkshake of her own, vanilla to be exact! Here is a picture of my cutey little girl....

We have more fun stuff going on this evening, so it's going to be a busy great Saturday around here!

Play date with Angela and Cannon

2010-05-05T15:10:00.002-04:00

The kids and I have been down visiting family this week to give Blake some time to work on papers and study in peace. Only a couple of weeks left in the semester which equals crunch time! Since being down here we have shopped (Ikea, I love that place), seen lots of family (my Nana and Paw-Paw met Owen for the first time!), and have just relaxed! Yesterday Karis, Owen and I had the chance to hang out with my college roomate Angela and one of the little boys she nannies for. We hit up the park for some fun since it was such a beautiful day! Cannon is just a few months older than Karis. He's shy, and Karis is not shy at all! She was running up to all the other kids and trying to talk and play with them! Here is a picture of the two kiddos, so cute!

I think Karis looks like such a big girl in this picture! She's growing up too fast for me! We had a great day! We will head back home tomorrow. I'm so anxious to get home to Blake, but sad to leave everyone here. It has been a great trip, as always!

"Girl, you need to blog again!"

2010-04-28T23:03:00.004-04:00

In the words of my bff Angela, "Girl, you need to blog again!" Yes, yes, it's been nearly three months, so it goes with me and blogging. I do have great intentions, I really do. I think about blogging a lot, but just haven't done it. So, there's no better time than the present huh!?!

Angela encouraged me today to just blog about life, the realness of your days, whatever! It is a great tool to look back through and recall what has happened. I ran across a blog the other day of a girl who blogged every day for the first year of her son's life. She would put up a picture, share what they did, fun things that her little boy did, and whatever else to document his first year of life! That is pretty awesome to me, and I want to be able to look back at things like that too. So, here is to blogging about the everyday things that happen, and perhaps some other things too!

Well, to catch us up to speed, here are a few little things about the past months....

Life with two little kiddos:

-It has been a MUCH easier transition than I ever thought it would be! God has been incredibly gracious with this new phase of life. I get out and about with both kids quite frequently, and with not much drama! My life saver is my Ergo baby carrier! Wow, that thing is AMAZING! I can't imagine life without it now having two kids! It's like a magic sleep inducing item for Owen. I pop him in and he goes right to sleep! It has made my Target shopping trips so much easier.

-Having two in diapers = lots and lots and lots of diaper changing and diapers everywhere!

-Owen doesn't like to ride in the car at all! Karis would knock out on our three hour trips to my mom and dad's area really quickly when she was a few months old. But Owen, not at all! He maybe slept an hour on one trip down. Other than that, he's a screamer! (Hmmm....if only I could figure out a way to combine the Ergo and his carseat....)

-I have only had one day where I thought, "I think two kids is enough for me!" Other than that one moment, I am completely open to more little blessings if the Lord so wills.

I LOVE my kids and am so thankful for the opportunity to be their momma! It has been a wonderful three months with Owen, and a wonderful almost 22 months with Karis! I'll blog more about our new adventures with them later (and hopefully be more consistent in the future, but how many times have I said that? But this time I'm serious! No, seriously, I'm serious!) : )

It was nice to blog again. Thanks for the encouragement Ang!

Karis and Owen

2010-02-01T10:00:00.003-05:00

It has been another long time since I have updated things here, but I have a moment and thought I would! Being a mother of two little babies now (our son Owen was born on January 21st!) has been, for the most part, great! Owen is super easy right now, as he really only eats, sleeps and yes poops! He is perfectly content to hang out in the bouncy seat, but he is quick to let you know when he is hungry and ready to eat! Karis has really done a wonderful job with her baby brother. It is so sweet to hear her say "Heyyyyy" to him whenever she sees him. She's really curious when he cries and will say "Ok" (her way of telling him that it's ok, no need to cry!) but does it so sweetly and gently. She definitely has a very caring way about her with him. This video was taken when Owen was one week old. Karis climbed into the glider in their room, held up her arms, and said "baby." We think it was her way of telling us that she was ready to hold him. I had waited a while to let her hold him, but I thought, as obviously Karis did too, that this was the time to let her. So, here is one of the sweetest moments yet of my two kiddos....

I will try to be better about posting on here. Trying to adjust to this new life with two is taking a little time, but I will do my best!

Thanksgiving in Oklahoma!

2009-11-23T22:52:00.003-05:00

We are currently out in Oklahoma visiting Blake's family for the Thanksgiving holiday. We have been so looking forward to getting out here and seeing everyone. We come out once a year, either for Christmas or Thanksgiving, so it has been since last Christmas since we've seen everyone. I have been thinking a lot about our trip last year and how Karis was only a little under 6 months old, just started to roll over, and was so much smaller then. Now, she's running around and laughing at her big cousins! She has grown so much, but I know that's how it goes!

I want to share some videos from our time our so far and will hopefully share some more as the week goes on.

One thing I was really anxious about was the plane ride out with Karis. Being her first time on a plane, I was really expecting and preparing for the worst. We had an hour flight and then a 3 1/2 hour flight. I prayed for abundant grace and mercy, and the Lord was so gracious to us! Karis did SO well on both flights! There were no issues with her ears popping, so was fascinated with looking out the window, she looked through the "Sky Mall" magazines, and we set her up with this..

She's a natural traveler! However, she does get cranky when she doesn't really nap during the day. On our day of traveling Karis only slept about 45 minutes on the second flight. She was a sleepy sleepy girl when we finally arrived. Here she is while Blake was getting our baggage.

She slept well that first night for sure! It's been a great trip so far. We are in Oklahoma City right now visiting Blake's mom and sister's. Tomorrow we will travel to the Tulsa area to see Sondra, Blake's step-mom. Finally, we will head to Kansas City to see Blake's Dad's side of the family. It's going to be a quick visit with everyone, so we'll see about getting more posts on here!

We miss everyone out in North Carolina but are thankful for the opportunity to spend some time with family in Oklahoma. Hopefully there will be more to come!

Currently on my mind....

2009-09-17T22:30:00.003-04:00

There have been so many times that I have thought about blogging certain things, but then I get busy doing other things (chasing my walking one year old around, cleaning up the house, taking a nap!) and blogging gets put aside. But tonight, Blake is taking a break from working on the computer, and so I get a little time to update and share some things! I am quite excited!

For the past few weeks, I have been so encouraged and challenged by my time reading in the Bible. I try every day (although, it doesn't happen every day, but I still try) to take some time while Karis is napping, to just sit, read, journal, and meditate on the Bible. There are a few verses that I keep coming back to that God has been using so much in my heart and life. First is Colossians 1:9-12 and also 2 Peter 1:3-8 (I will share more about the 2 Peter verses in a later post).

With Colossians, I have been really challenged in the area of my prayer life by these words...

9 "And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding"

10 "so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God."

There are so many examples in the Bible of great prayers to pray for others. I was humbled by the fact that not only do I not pray like this for others, but often times I go without praying much for others at all. Clearly Paul had a huge heart for prayer for the people that he ministered to and cared for, and it is my desire to cultivate a heart like this for the people in my life. These verses have been so challenging for me, but I have seen growth in my prayers! God's grace for sure! We are about to do a book study at church based on the prayers of Paul, so I am very excited to dig deeper into the example of prayer that Paul gives us in the Bible. I will have to share my learnings on here once we begin (not until October). I am really looking forward to it!

So that's one way I have been challenged lately, how about you? Are there verses or an area that you feel challenged to grow in? How is the fight for growth and faith going? I would love to hear!

One of Karis' many talents...

2009-08-29T15:29:00.003-04:00

For a while now Karis has been a pro at drinking from a sippy cup. She has no problem with chugging her water down! But, there is something else that she has discovered that she can do with the water she drinks. Here is evidence of one of Karis' many talents!

We will have to teach her that this may not be the most polite thing to do at the dinner table with water. It's cute for now though! : )

My poor pregnant mind....

2009-08-23T22:15:00.002-04:00

You know you've got a pregnant mind when....

....You have been driving a car for over a year, fill it up with gas a lot, and yet somehow forget for the first time what side the gas tank is on. Oh the joys of getting back in the car and driving over to a different pump that's on the side where your tank is.

...You have lived in a town for over 3 years, have eaten at all the available restaurants numerous times, and yet forget for the first time that there is an Arby's in the town. I LOVE eating at the Arby's here and just ate there a few days ago, but I still forgot for a moment that we even had one. Man, that's bad!

....You are trying to remember the third item for your list, but you can't remember it. I totally had three examples to share, but I can't remember the third. My poor pitiful pregnant mind!

Hopefully it will all come back to me! : )

Friday Videos

2009-08-21T21:38:00.004-04:00

These are two new videos of our little girl walking and talking! During the talking video, it is so cute to hear Karis having a "semi" conversation. We were laughing so much at this! She's going to be quite the talker one day....soon probably!

Update: A wedding, a walking baby, and the bun in the oven

2009-08-18T18:08:00.003-04:00

It has been forever again. It always happens with me. What can you do but pick up, brush off, and write a new post! : )

We have had some busy but really fun times in the past few weeks! Here are a few highlights from what's been going on.....

We did some traveling for my friend Summer's wedding! I was excited to be the matron of honor, but with that came some responsibilities that were stretching for me! I planned the bachelorette/lingerie shower (which I have never ever done anything like that before), I ran around doing some last minute things with the lovely bride, and entrusted my child to the gracious care of my mom and sister for the majority of the week we were there! It was crazy at times, but the wedding was wonderful and so much fun! It was one big college reunion for sure! So many faces that I haven't seen in forever, and it was just wonderful to catch up with some of them!

Also big news....Karis is WALKING now! Hello big girl! She started out taking a few steps and would then fall and crawl, but just in the past 2 weeks or so, she has taken off! It has been so much fun to see her discover her new ability and all the cute faces she makes when walking around! A video of this magnificent ability is definitely on the way!

Finally, in the current events in the Hollander family, we found out yesterday that we are going to have a little BOY! We are so excited to add a little fella to our family, and are praying for a continued healthy pregnancy and delivery for the little guy!

So, that's a little update. Things are going well here! I will try my best to post more and be a bit more consistent, but with a walking crazy little girl, we shall see! : )

Karis is One!!!

2009-07-07T21:37:00.010-04:00

I can hardly believe the words that I am typing now, my daughter is ONE. It does not seem like a year since she came into our lives. I think having kids, not just getting older, makes time go by so so much faster! This first birthday for my little girl was wonderful! We had cake and several varieties of homemade ice cream! We celebrated Monday night (before her actual birthday I know) with some great friends and family. My mom and step-dad were able to be here which was so nice! We had our old neighbors from our seminary apartment come over, and then lots of folks from our church. There was a house full for sure! I know Karis won't remember it, but with pictures and videos she will be able to look back and see how cared for she was on her first birthday! We are so thankful for everyone that was able to come celebrate, and wish that all our friends and family could have been there with us. For those who couldn't be there, here are some sweet pictures of the birthday girl at her party!

We are so excited to see what the Lord does in our little girl's life! I already see such a fun little personality, and such a friendly spirit within her. She loves people, and I pray that the Lord will use her as a mighty tool for His kingdom. He formed her, He is sustaining her, and He has the plan for her life. We love Karis and are daily blessed by her. It's hard to believe that on her 2nd birthday she will have a little brother or sister! Crazy! God is so good!

Also, for video Friday......

check out this link to a video of Karis enjoying her birthday cake! My mom videoed this for us while Karis was trying to figure out the whole eating cake thing! It's cute!
Click Here!!

New Video

2009-07-03T22:47:00.004-04:00

We have this awesome little flip video camera that my step-mom so graciously gave us to use, so we have been able to capture some GREAT videos of Karis in this first months of her little life! I have loved posting some of these already and I want to get into a better habit of putting them on here. So, with hope, I am going to try to make Friday's video days here on our little blog. I know there are some times that I do better than others with posting, so maybe this will help keep me accountable to putting stuff on here!

So, for the first video for Friday videos.....

I have been meaning to post this for a little while, it is so funny to me! Karis has discovered a new ability that she really only does when she eats! It's so funny, hope you enjoy!

Our New Adventure

2009-07-02T14:47:00.002-04:00

Well, at the end of my last post I made a comment wondering what the next adventure in the life of the Hollanders will be. I knew at that moment (although no one else did) that our newest adventure was already beginning. I found out around June 1st that Blake and I are expecting our second little baby! We are very excited, but I still have some nervousness about it all as well. I feel like I have life pretty well figured out with the one little girl. She's on a great schedule, loves to go out and about, and is really a great easy baby. So, I just don't know what to expect when the next little Hollander comes around. I do rest in the fact that this is the Lord's timing and His perfect plan for us. Children ARE such a blessing from the Lord, and I am so honored that He would see fit for us to prepare for baby number 2.

I am having all the wonderful first trimester fun with nausea and tiredness, but hopefully it won't last too much longer! I am coming in on being 10 weeks along now, so we are close to the second trimester! Crazy! I am noticing with this pregnancy how often I forget that I am pregnant. Karis keeps me busy during the day and half the time I don't even think about the new little one growing. It was ALWAYS on my mind the first time around, so it's kind of funny now. We were able to have an initial ultrasound to verify pregnancy a few days ago, and there was a little bean there! That made it quite real! It's one thing to take a test at home and a totally different thing to actually see the growing baby! So exciting, and overwhelming! We are praying for a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby. We are trusting the Lord to sustain life and provide for us all the things we need. I'll keep things updated more on here as things go along! Looking forward to it all!

Four Years Today

2009-06-04T10:31:00.010-04:00

June 4th, 2005 is a big day in the history of Blake and Heather. It's the day that we took a vow to always love, honor, and cherish one another. We were married at my home church surrounded by so many friends and family. It was a wonderful day. In four years of marriage we have moved three times, worked our first full time jobs, started seminary, work part-time jobs, had a baby, I graduated from seminary, and bought a house. Life is surely rolling! I wonder what the next big adventure will be.......

Before the Throne of God Above

2009-06-01T10:21:00.002-04:00

I love my church and am so glad to be a part of this fellowship of believers! I have never felt so clearly what a gift the church is to believers in Jesus until being a part of Treasuring Christ Church. Yesterday was such an encouraging time in the Word, partaking in the Lord's Supper, and worshiping my God through song. I was reminded of what a Savior I have and the grace that He bestowed on me, the chief of sinners.

We sang the Hymn "Before the Throne of God Above" after taking the Lord's Supper, and I was so moved by the truths that lay in these lyrics. Read the hymn below, and worship our great God who, because of Christ, pardons those who trust in Him.

Before the throne of God above, I have a strong and perfect plea
A great high Priest whose name is love, who ever lives and pleads for me
My name is graven on His hands, My name is written on His Heart
I know that while in Heaven He stands
No tongue can bid me thence depart
No tongue can bid me thence depart

When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within
Upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end to all my sin
Because the sinless Savior died
My sinful soul is counted free
For God the Just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me
To look on Him and pardon me

Behold Him there the risen Lamb
My perfect spotless righteousness
The great unchangeable I AM
The King of glory and of grace
One with Himself I cannot die
My soul is purchased with His blood
My life is hid with Christ on High
With Christ my Savior and my God
With Christ my Savior and my God

"For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin,
so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."
2 Corinthians 5:21

Sweet Baby Kisses

2009-05-18T21:32:00.003-04:00

This video is so sweet of Blake and Karis! She has just recently started giving us "kisses." If we pucker up in front of her she will come at us and give us her baby kisses! It's so great!

An encouraging/convicting quote

2009-05-05T16:35:00.002-04:00

I am still in a constant fight against the bent in my heart to be idle. I don't know if I will ever completely overcome, but it is just one more thing in my life to remind me that I need the Lord and His help every single day. I was reading from Elizabeth Elliot's book "Discipline" the other day and I was so challenged by something she said....

" 'I hold me fast by Thee, Ruler of time, King of Eternity' is the expression of faith that my temporality is understood only in the infinite context of eternity. Not even the tiny dewdrop lacks the care and attention of the Lover of all. Shall I then think of any detail of my earthly life, even so little a thing as a minute of one of my hours, as without meaning? How shall I answer to my Master for my time?"

WOW! How shall I answer to my Master for my time? How shall you answer to the Master for your time? What a heart probing and convicting question. It is helpful for me to think on the fact that God is aware of every detail of my life, and He cares about those details. It is easy for me to squander my time away, but I want to be able to answer my Master with words that show that I was a good steward of the time He gave me.

No matter what season of life you may find yourself in, we are to be good stewards of our time, and use it wisely. Here's to perseverance and faith in the fight!

"Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise,
making the most of your time, because the days are evil."
Ephesians 5:15 & 16

Video of the Kiddos!

2009-04-30T23:14:00.004-04:00

Here is a video from our day with Mr. Josiah Massey! We have had a fun day playing!

We have one more day with the little fellow, so I will try to get more pictures and videos of the two of them! We have so enjoyed caring for Josiah. What an honor to look after him while his mommy and daddy are away! Thankful for these little lives and praying for them to know and love Jesus!

The Fight Against Idleness, Day 2....and we have a baby boy!

2009-04-30T10:36:00.004-04:00

The next thing that is helping me in my fight against idleness, my fight for productivity in my home, is getting creative to help manage my time. My friend Lisa shared an AWESOME blog that is quickly becoming a favorite! It's called Simple Mom, and you can find a link to it here on my site (right hand side, cute picture of a kid holding onto momma's leg) She has a series that she did on home management and she talks about something she calls a daily docket. That has been a wonderful tool for me, so helpful in planning out my day! I was suggest checking out her site, and look for her links to her daily docket. She also utilizes a home management notebook, which is on my to do list to create. So many wonderful ideas there! So, check out her site. It's wonderful!

On another note, we have been keeping sweet little Josiah Massey while his mommy and daddy are overseas for a little while. Josiah is a month younger than Karis, so I am getting an idea of what life with twins would be like. They are both great babies, but even two great babies are TWO BABIES! I have a much higher respect for mommas with twins now than I did before! I don't think I would be very productive at all if I had two little ones all the time! I am trying to make the most of their nap times.....and speaking of that.....the babies are waking up from their morning nap now. I'm off for now, but I will put some pictures up of the little cuties later!

Praying for grace and mercy!

The Fight Against Idleness, Day 1

2009-04-27T23:56:00.003-04:00

In my last post I talked about wanting to work on not "eating the bread of idleness." Though there have been (many) moments that the temptation has overtaken me and I have sat too long at the computer, or waited entirely too long at tackling the pile of dishes in the sink, I have seen God's grace helping me in different moments throughout the day!

Let me take a moment to point out something important. I credit the fact that I have this desire to be a productive "keeper of the home" only to the grace of God. If I were left to myself I would be one big ol' cluttery, junky, idle mess! I know God's Spirit is present and His Word is active, and speaks loud and clear! It's clear that I am to look well to the ways of my household. I am thankful for conviction in this area, and thankful for the Spirit's working! Be encouraged women at the desire within you to keep your home well, it's an evidence of God's grace at work in your life! Praise Him for it!

Now to the hleps...

The first thing that has helped me SO much is simply sitting down and planning out my day. Before I go to bed, I take out a little notebook and write out my day, and I try to get very detailed. Karis is on a great schedule now, so I pretty much know what time our day is going to start and when she will have feeding times and nap times. I write these down and then write down the exact things that I want to get done while she is napping. I have found that having an idea of what I need to get done in the day without planning when it will get done equals it not getting done! Doing some laundry, making some calls, and putting away dishes are all things that need to happen tomorrow for me. So, I will be specific in planning out what gets done when so that it gets done. I have been much more productive during the days that I have a very detailed plan. This goes down as my number one thing that has helped me, and is helping me in my fight against idleness!

More of my helps to come!

Trying Not to Eat the Bread of Idleness

2009-04-23T22:37:00.003-04:00

For as long as I can remember, I have not been a fan of cleaning and doing housework. I remember my mom making me clean up my room when company was coming over and actually saying to her that when I was older, had my own house, and had company come over, I would not clean up!

When I got married, I knew Blake's expectation was for me to keep a clean, neat, and organized home. I was afraid, very afraid! I am not organized. I am not a cleaner. I am an unorganized, cluttered, LAZY mess. I know my role as a wife and mother is to take care of my home and manage it well. However, my sinful heart has trouble embracing this. God has been so gracious to convict me from His word concerning this area. My constant prayer request to the girls in my small group is that I would be productive, use my time wisely, and keep my home well. But, I often feel defeated and don't see victory over this area in my life.

My friend Dana (I've mentioned her before, she is just such a wonderful blessing to me!) has a recent post on her blog that the Lord really used in my life. She talks about being thankful for things that she doesn't have, one thing being lots of freetime. She says,

"Free time or moments of boredom... well, If I did have these they would end up being more of a curse than a blessing because knowing my wayward heart I would be idle." You can read the rest of her post here (and I recommend checking it out!).

After I read that line, it was like a knife cutting into me. That's me, my heart is prone to being idle. Plain and simple. That's a huge reason why I don't like to clean and do housework, it's work! But, clearly from God's word this is not how I am to be. Proverbs 31:27 says, "She looks well to the ways of her household; she does not eat the bread of idleness." I not only like to eat the bread of idleness, I feast on it and crave more! I am so convicted by this verse and I want to change. I know that God can change me! I want to look well to the ways of my household and not eat the bread of idleness!

The next bit of blogging is going to be me sharing how my fight against being idle is going. I want to share practical tips of what's working for me, what's not working for me, and just overall how things are going. I am anxious that God is wanting to do something, and I think it's going to be quite a challenge. Would you pray for me!

A brief update

2009-04-20T22:59:00.005-04:00

Well, I wanted to update the blog a little bit, but I am getting quite sleepy. So, the only current update is a cute new background! I don't know what it is about this little birdie background, but I thought it was so great! Coming soon will be updates on our new house (including pictures!) and Karis being 9 months old! I will blog again soon, I will! : )

It's been a little while....

2009-03-13T21:25:00.003-04:00

Where does the time go? I mean really! It's been almost a month since I've posted anything, and it does not seem like that long at all! I am reminded more and more how quickly time passes and it is just crazy to me. Today, I was cleaning up Karis' room and packing away some clothes and things that are too small for her now. I know she is growing so fast, and what amazed me more than anything were her little teeny tiny newborn socks! I could not believe that her feet used to fit in some of them! Time is going by so quickly, and I wish I had eyes to really take notice of the little changes and little details as she grows. Before I know it she'll be 5, 13, 21! Oh, I want to take in every moment! This is a picture of my "big" little baby now, already 8 months old!

She's wonderful. I sometimes can't believe that God has entrusted this joy to Blake and I. I want her to grow to be a woman who fears the Lord and who's desire is to glorify her maker.

"....A woman who fears the Lord is to be praised."
Psalm 31:30

My Funny Little Niece!

2009-02-17T23:29:00.003-05:00

I just have to share this, it's too funny not to share! My niece, Dakota, who will be 7 next week, is such a funny girl! But, it's that kind of funny that's not intended to be funny. Does that make sense? She is so genuine in what she says and does, yet sometimes it is so cute and funny! I was talking to my mom tonight and she shared some new stories that are hysterical (well, I thought they were!)

A couple of weeks ago, while my mom was taking Dakota to school, this conversation took place...

Dakota: "Oh no, my mommy has a test this morning and we have not prayed for her!! Ma, (she calls my mom "Ma") let's pray for her."

My mom: "Ok Dakota, let's pray. Dear God, please help Lauren...."

Dakota: breaking into the prayer, "MY mommy"

Mom: "Yes, Dakota's mommy, to do well on her test this morning."

Dakota: "And help my little brother Camden be able to poop, he's having trouble."

Mom: trying to hold back the laughter, "Yes God, help Camden go to the bathroom."

Dakota: "Oh, and my mommy told me that baby Karis has a bad diaper rash, help her too."

She is so stinkin' sweet and cute! I love it!

Then, mom told me this story....

On their way to school (lots of funny stuff going on the ride to school!) Dakota likes to play pretend with my mom. They will play teacher where Dakota is the teacher and mom is the student, or office, or doctor. This particular day they were playing doctor.

Dakota: "Hello, how can I help you today?"

Mom: "Umm...My big toe is hurt."

Dakota: "Ok, which one?"

Mom: "My right toe."

Dakota: "Alright, well have you been here before?"

Mom: "Yes I have."

Dakota: "Does anyone in your household have a gambling problem?"

Mom: "WHAT?"

Turns out that Dakota found a phone book in the back seat, opened it up, and proceeded to read what she saw. Just so happened that helping family members with gambling addiction was there for her to read! Cracks me up! She also could not understand why my mom kept laughing! There are so many funny things that she says and does! I am sure Karis will say some funny stuff too as she grows up, and I hope I will remember to write them down and remember!

Thankful....

2009-02-12T22:34:00.006-05:00

I am thankful for so many things....salvation, life and breath, so many things! I wanted to take a moment and share some things that I am oh so thankful for in this particular season of my life. Two things in particular.....

First, I am thankful for moms who have gone before and can help those of us trying to figure things out with new babies! I have said, on numerous occasions, how blessed I feel to have so many godly women to look to for help/advice/encouragement in being a mom. Our church is filled with some amazing mommies! In midst of my questions about making baby food, schedules, sleeping, there is always someone who I can talk to if I need them. So thankful for that. Take for example the following situation. I asked my friends Dana C. and Kari B. for some advice about Karis' sleeping through the night difficulty (more MY difficulty of her not sleeping!) and just wanted some advice about what to do, how to see Christ through this time, and any other insight they could give. Kari asked me how long I was letting her cry in the middle of the night before I was getting up to go to her. I responded, "5, maybe 10 minutes." I only wish I could have seen the look on her face! (she was sitting behind me) She said something to the effect of, "Oh girl, you need to let her cry." They suggested that I let Karis cry for 30 minutes before getting up, and see how she does with that. So, that night we let her cry for 30 minutes, which leads me to my second thankful thing....

I am so thankful that my child has slept through the night for 2 weeks now!!!!! That first night, it took her a good 30 minutes, but then she went right back to sleep! Every night since then, she has slept right through! I am just shocked and amazed, but oh so thankful! She may wimper at some times in the night, but just briefly, and then goes back to sleep. I kept thinking, man we should have let her cry it out months ago! But, I am truly thankful for the lessons learned during that time of getting up in the middle of the night. It was hard, very hard, but God was so good and so faithful to meet me there. I wouldn't trade it (someone remind me of this when we have another kiddo!) I can also clearly sympathize with the other mommies out there that are struggling with lack of sleep. God is sovereign, even over our children's sleeping.

I don't say all this to brag on the fact that Karis is sleeping now, but just to point to the goodness of my God. He is just as good in midst of the difficulty (lack of sleep) as He is in the easier times (sleeping), and He is in control of both! Ecclesiastes 7:14 says, "In the day of porsperity be happy, but in the day of adversity consider- God has made the one as well as the other..." I am in a time of "prosperity" but I know days of "adversity" are ahead with this little one (I can already see the sin nature, discipline time is on the horizon...) When those days of adveristy hit, I will seek the Lord in His word, I will seek the Lord in prayer, and I will humbly ask for help and advice from those who have gone before.

So thankful for this time of learning and refining.

More 5:30 am lessons...

2009-02-04T09:37:00.005-05:00

It has been a little while since I updated, and there is lots to mention! But first, I want to finish up with more lessons I learned while getting up in the early morning hours with Karis. God was so gracious to reveal these things.

Lesson 3:
In my first 5:30 am lesson post, I mentioned Psalm 103 and how God does not deal with us according to our sins. Further down in this chapter, in verses 14-16, the Bible reminds us that we are only here for a little while:

"For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.
As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field;
for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more."

This truth was important for me. I know that my time with Karis is going to go by so fast. I heard this all the time from people before we had this little girl, and I have tried to take every moment in. However, I was surly ready for the waking up at night to stop! When Karis is older, driving, wearing make-up, etc, I am sure I will miss these days. She's only a tiny baby once, so I am trying to take it all in.

Lesson 4:
I learned that my only true hope is in Jesus. We started giving Karis some baby food, and I thought, "Surely this will help her sleep better." When it didn't make her sleep through the night, I had to really check my heart and realize that I had put hope in that little jar of sweet potatoes. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness, and being reminded of this was hard but so so good and helpful.

Lesson 5:
I was reminded of just how sinful I am and how much I desperately need my Savior. There was such anger in my heart towards Karis when she would wake me up, so much selfishness revealed when all I wanted to do was take care of myself and sleep. I wasn't trusting that the Lord was good and that He was "working all things for good for those who love Him." There were times that I was so overwhelmed by the sin in my heart, but I am so thankful that God would reveal these things to me. One night in particular, I had a major anger issue towards Karis (in midst of fussing and crying, she inadverntantly scratched me under my eye). My heart was so angry, but The Holy Spirit convicted me of this, and I confessed my sin to Karis and practiced sharing the gospel with her. I know there are going to be many more times in the course of my life with my children that I will fail them or sin against them. It was good practice to confess and point to the Gospel, as I know I will probably have to do this a lot in the future.

It has been quite a learning time for me. I have prayed that God would use this little life to make me more like Jesus, and I am so thankful for Karis being in my life! I LOVE my daughter so much! I pray that God will continue to reveal sin and help me fight for holiness. I am thankful for His grace and His mercy.

A Quick Picture!

2009-01-15T13:59:00.002-05:00

We started feeding Karis some baby food this week, and she has done pretty well with it! Green beans, apples, and sweet potatoes have been her first go with food other than milk or infant rice cereal. Here is a cute picture of my girl enjoying her sweet potatoes today! She's so cute!

5:30 am Lesson #2

2009-01-15T10:32:00.004-05:00

This next lesson was learned as I was sitting in the rocker, again feeding Karis, crying and crying out to the Lord that I was just so tired. I felt weak, exhausted, and simply at the end of my rope. In midst of my whining I was reminded that our Lord neither sleeps nor slumbers. He has a constant eye on us. These are the words of Psalm 121 that talk about that fact...

1. I will lift up my eyes to the mountains ; From where shall my help come ?

2. My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth.

3. He will not allow your foot to slip ; He who keeps you will not slumber.

4. Behold, He who keeps Israel Will neither slumber nor sleep.

5. The LORD is your keeper ; The LORD is your shade on your right hand.

6. The sun will not smite you by day, Nor the moon by night.

7. The LORD will protect you from all evil ; He will keep your soul.

8. The LORD will guard your going out and your coming in From this time forth and forever .

I love these verses and the reminder that we have a God who is ready and available to help us in our time of need, no matter what time that may be! At 5:30, in midst of my exhaustion, I knew that the Lord was available for me to approach through prayer. I knew that He does not sleep nor slumber, and I was and am very thankful for that. It was a moment of worship for me, just being reminded of this characteristic of God. I know that I am weak and need sleep to survive (I am learning this fact about myself more and more as I am up with Karis!), and the fact that God does not need it causes me to be more amazed at Him and who He is!

5:30 am Lesson #1

2009-01-13T23:17:00.003-05:00

I was sitting in the rocking chair, feeding Karis, and I remembered back to when she was only about a month and a half. She slept through the night from about then until she turned 4 months. When I say sleep through the night, I mean at the very least 8 hour stretches! It was wonderful! I sat there at 5:30 thinking back to those days, being so frustrated with the fact that she wasn't sleeping well anymore, and then this came to my mind....
"This is what I get for being prideful in my heart that my daughter was already sleeping through the night at only a few weeks old."
Almost immediately, as if God was right beside me talking to me, I remembered the verse, "He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities." Psalm 103:10
I was overwhelmed with God's goodness to remind me of this truth. Even though I am still such a sinner, God doesn't deal with me according to my sins. Jesus Christ took on the penalty for my sins past, present and future and dealt with them on the cross. This is the Gospel! Praise God!

Just that morning at church, our pastor Sean Cordell preached on the fact that God now speaks to His people through His Word, the Bible. We don't hear the audible voice of God, but God still speaks! I heard Him loud and clear that early morning feeding my daughter!

Learning Lessons at 5:30 am

2009-01-12T14:22:00.005-05:00

My sweet Karis has found enjoyment at waking up at 5:30 am for the past few mornings. As much as I love my child, it has been really difficult for me to serve her with a joyful heart this early in the morning. Adding to the difficulty is that she wakes up once or twice earlier in the night simply needing her pacifier put back. So, I feel I am constantly up and down out of the bed at night. 5:30 rolls around and all I want to do is get her to go back to sleep so I can go back to sleep. However, she won't have it that way. No no, she wants to eat! I have really struggled with anger these past two nights towards Karis' non-sleep, but God has been ever gracious with me.

Last night, as I was sitting in the rocker feeding Karis several truths about God, about my sin, and about this current situation came to my mind. I was so quickly humbled yet encouraged that God would remind me of His truth from His Word at that time. Even in midst of my sinfulness, I felt he was so close to me reminding me of His faithfulness.

I have been so encouraged by the Lord in this that I want to share these thoughts over the next few days. I could write so much on each one, so I'll break it up!

The End is Near!

2008-12-09T14:21:00.004-05:00

Here is a quick update in midst of finals week.....

Blake and I took the first half of our Theology final today, and the second half is tomorrow morning. After that I will officially be done with all of my assignments for seminary!!! I will graduate on Friday, Lord willing! I cannot even begin to explain how excited I am about that! It has been a great experience for me, but I am thankful to be finishing up and able to now focus more on my daughter and my home (I sound like such a grown up mommy, weird!) I have a list of projects to do and books to read, and I am looking so forward to it all! First on the to-do list is get this messy/cluttered apartment put back together (it gets quite neglected at finals time, and at other times too!). First on the reading list, well first 2 on the reading list, "Atonement Child" by Francine Rivers, and "Feminine Appeal" by Carolyn Mahaney. Borrowing those from my wonderful friends Lisa Burns and Jennifer Cox. I will have to post later about those books.

Well, back to preparing essays on the doctrines of salvation and the Holy Spirit!

Doctrine, Diligence, and Discipline

2008-11-07T13:49:00.005-05:00

Yesterday at Southeastern Dr. Al Mohler from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY came and spoke at chapel. The title of his talk was "How Not to Raise a Pagan," and he looked at Deuteronomy 6. The three main points he pulled from the passage were doctrine, diligence, and discipline. It is important to be teaching our children doctrine, truths about God from His Word. We must be diligent in our teaching and make the most of every opportunity that we have. Verses 6-7 says "And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise." Clearly, diligence is important. Finally, discipline. We as parents need to teach our children what God's standards are so they know why they are receiving discipline. The talk was great, and if you have time I HIGHLY recommend listening to it! Just click here.

All of this echos what I desire to do for my daughter. I want to be a parent who is teaching my daughter about the Lord. Another point that Dr. Mohler made was that we are always teaching our children something. They are learning from us and from our example. We must be mindful of that fact, and also careful what we are teaching them. I want to teach my daughter to be a woman who trusts the Lord in times of difficulty, to be a lady of grace, and peace. I want Karis to be a lady who clings to the Gospel, so I must be a mommy who shows and teaches her the Gospel. What a responsibility! What a challenge! Only by God's grace will Blake and I be able to raise her and teach her. I pray that she will be a lady of the Lord!

"Hear, O Isreal; The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way,
and when you lie down, and when you rise."

Deuteronomy 6:4-7

Election Day

2008-11-04T21:15:00.005-05:00

"The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He will." Proverbs 21:1.

This verse has given me much peace in the past weeks leading up to this election. It is so comforting to know that I serve a sovereign God who is in control of everything, even the hearts of sinful man. I trust that whichever way the election goes, God is not surprised. He knows, and I can trust Him. My pastor has done such a great job of relaying these truths to us in the past weeks, so my heart has been continually reminded of our great God. I am so thankful for the Word of God and that I can place my trust in the Solid Rock, Jesus Christ, and not in a political party or ideal. A former professor of mine here at Southeastern put it this way...
"Glad my citizenship's in heaven. While here I'm not ashamed of the gospel, for it (not politics) is the power of God!"

So as I watch the results of the election roll in tonight, I am trusting my God, and placing my hope in Him. For He has the president of the United States in His hands.

On a lighter, cuter, note.....
This may be one of the cutest pictures of my sweet baby that has ever been taken. She accompanied Blake and I to the polls this morning as we did our voting. As we were leaving, we received our "I Voted" sticker, and so did Karis. Blake thought it was a good idea to put it on her head. It did make for a cute picture!

Reformation Day/Halloween

2008-11-03T19:42:00.007-05:00

Last week was Karis' first Halloween. We also like to celebrate the fact that it is also the same day that the protestant reformation began. It was Oct. 31st, 1517 when Martin Luther took his 95 theses and nailed them to the door of a church in Germany, setting forth the reformation. "The righteous man shall live by faith." Romans 1:17. It was this verse that influenced Martin Luther to stand against a righteousness based on works, and cling only to righteousness by faith in Jesus Christ. So....with that in mind, our Halloween costume was inspired by Mr. Luther!

Karis has Thesis written 93 times on her onsie, I am #94, and Blake is #95. Together, we make up Luther's 95 Theses. I love that Karis' first Halloween costume was theologically inspired! It was so much fun!

Now this is a pic of my poor little girl after I dressed her up in her "My first Halloween" Pumpkin outfit. I don't think she was too excited about it, but she was so cute! We went back out to our favorite spot, Target, and she was quite a hit with people there!

It was a fun Halloween season with our little Karis!

An Amazing Discovery!

2008-10-29T10:51:00.007-04:00

It is amazing to watch Karis learn new things and grow. She is discovering new things everyday, and so am I! This is a pic of Karis in her car seat with her fun little friends hanging down from the handle. Usually, they just hang, and Karis just lays there and maybe looks at them. But, just recently, Karis discovered that she can use her hands and knock the little toys around! She is partial to the blue rabbit on her left other than the orange pig on her right. It is so neat to see her reach out and play with it now. She is also in the stage where everything is going in her mouth, so she likes to grab the blue rabbit and try to bite its head off! It's too cute, and I'll try to get a pic of that too!

Now for my amazing discovery! This picture was taken while me and my sweet girl were shopping at our favorite spot, Target! We were strolling around, and usually Karis is quite happy there! She looked so cute all bundled up in the car seat so I took this picture with my cell phone. Now, I like to think that I am a little electronically inclined, but I have never known how to get pics from my cell phone onto the computer. My phone is over 3 years old and doesn't have a usb hook up on it. Today though, I thought maybe I could send it like a text message to my email, and it worked!! I was amazed, and now I have this cute picture of my little baby girl on the computer! It doesn't take a lot for me to get excited!

New discoveries, whether your older or a new born, open up your world for so much more. Karis now knows that she can use her hands, and soon she'll learn that she can roll her body over and move around. I am amazed at her, and amazed at the God who created her as He did. My prayer is that one day, sooner than later, she will discover the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and that through the work of the Holy Spirit, will place her faith in Christ alone. That discovery will open up her world and her eyes to so much more than anything else, in this life and the one to come in eternity!

50 years

2008-10-26T23:00:00.004-04:00

In 1958 Earl Grindstaff married Gwen Padgett and went on to have a little girl and three little boys. Their little girl, Julie, went on to marry and have two little girls, one of whom is me! I am blessed to have a Nana and a Pawpaw who stuck to their wedding vows and have been together for 50 years. This weekend we celebrated their marriage by having a big anniversary party and so many family and friends came to show their love. I am thankful for my grand-parents and for the example of commitment and love that they have given me and all of my aunts, uncles, cousins and everyone. It is not common now-a-days to see people who have entered into the sacred union of marriage to make it to their 50th anniversary. Sadly, divorce is rampant in our culture. Blake and I were having a conversation today about how not much is sacred anymore to the world. God, life, and marriage aren't viewed as the sacred things that they are. However, I am so encouraged when I get to see glimpses of God's grace in lives that do hold the sacred dear. My sweet nana and pawpaw are an encouragement to me, and I am thankful for the grace of God that has kept them together all these years. Marriage can be difficult, and when based on feelings and not truth it is much more likely to dissolve. I love my husband, and I made a commitment to him 3 years ago to be his wife until death parts us. With God's grace, and our marriage built on Jesus Christ, we'll get to celebrate our 50th anniversary on June 4, 2055! I'm looking forward to that day!

Here are some pictures of my grandparents, taken by my wonderful husband!

My nana and pawpaw and their wedding party back in 1958

Nana and Pawpaw 50 years later

And so it begins.....

2008-10-19T23:09:00.003-04:00

For sometime now I have wanted to start a blog, and today seemed like a great day to do so. Today is my birthday, and so starting this blog is a sort of a gift to myself. I have put this off due to this being my final semester in seminary, and there is still studying to be done (and this will more than likely prove to be a slight distraction for me). However, I do feel that I can be disciplined. So with that, there probably won't be posts everyday, but hopefully every couple of days. This is just an intro, and I am excited to share what's going on in our lives!

On a different note....this has been a wonderful birthday weekend! Great friends, old and new, made it wonderful! My husband made it so special, and having a 3 month old daughter this year made it unlike any birthday I have ever had! It has been a fun, but very long weekend (2 very late nights). So, this will be it for my very first post on my very first blog!