Party of Three on the ROCK

Thankful For - Do You Know What It's Called?

2008-08-20T22:33:00.000-07:00

I haven't had much time gardening or anything else this summer since becoming a new mommy. Well I did find some time planting these purple Lily of the Niles all along the front of the house.But to my surprise I couldn't figure out how it was possible for these new blooms to start growing just two feet away from the main stocks. When they finally did bloom I saw they were something completely different, and I have no idea what they are - but they did equally take my breath away. They must have been there since before we moved in because this was the first time they appeared. The Lord must be my gardener.
See Eph2810 for more Thankfuls...

Shhh...

2008-08-20T22:27:00.000-07:00

He's not much of a napper. Falling asleep in his highchair has only happened twice.

Thankful Thursday

2008-08-13T21:28:00.000-07:00

"Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me." (Matt 18:5)

After two days of struggling with my twisty and squirmy six month old baby boy, I finally had four successful diaper changes today! I am so thrilled and so thankful for that.

When I did some online searching for some answers on how to make diaper changes a better experience, I found tons and tons of advice by moms who had been-there-done-that. Thank you moms.

Some of the tricks I tried today to keep him on his back were:
-hiding a toy under his shirt
-let him play with a clean diaper
-gave him a plastic ice cream bowl
-gave him a colorful coaster
-and let him play with a noisy packaged plastic take out spoon
Even though it kept him calm, I still had to work fast. I'll be looking for more objects around the house tomorrow.

I was so proud of myself and so thankful for all the good advice that is out there.
Next challenge is to figure out how to get out of the house on errands when he gets hungry so often.

And enjoying some decaf iced-coffee each morning and night all summer has been a wondeful treat.

Thank you Iris for hosting Thankful Thursday - God bless you all!

Photo Hunt - What IS That?

2008-07-18T15:27:00.000-07:00

This gelato ice cream shop makes it easy to figure out the flavors by placing on top of each one the actual fruit. It does away with the need to ask "what is it". Otherwise it's always my first question. But that still doesn't hold me back from asking for sample tastings!
Check out more at TNchick...

Wordless Wednesday

2008-07-15T22:21:00.000-07:00

This may look nice now, but soon it will grow heavy with pest-attracting fruit. It will soon be pruned.

For more WW go here and here...

PhotoHunt - Pointed

2008-07-05T06:14:00.001-07:00

At Yosemite, California it was lush green, except for this tree with all these pointed bare branches. The lighting made it stand out even more.
Check out more at TNchick...

The Blooms Are Here

2008-07-03T10:28:00.000-07:00

Easy to grow blooms are the theme of my landscaping this year. These Lily of the Nile transplants were a delightful surprise - we just plopped them into the soil a few months ago and here they are. And they add such a nice change of color to the home.

On the other hand, oh those darned easy and fast growing weeds. See them at the bottom of the photo? Ugh. If only weeding was as easy as planting...

Thankful Thursday

2008-07-02T22:19:00.000-07:00

Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivers him out of them all. Psalm 34:19

Even though hubby and I are still tired most of the time these days being new parents,
I am really thankful for being a mom to our baby boy,
a wife to a wonderful husband,
and even though it feels alittle gluttonous to enjoy the material things the American life has to offer (things as simple as taking a daily shower)- I am thankful.

Thank you Iris for hosting Thankful Thursday - God bless you!
And a happy fourth to all!

Stolen - Gas Tank Still Full

2008-06-30T21:07:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe there was a stolen BMW parked across from us for four days before all the neighbors finally decided to inquire about who it belonged to. Most surprising is that it was returned to its owner in good shape with a tank still full of gas.

Budding

2008-06-08T21:00:00.000-07:00

Here are some agapanthus or Lily of the Nile which are shooting up some buds soon to bloom. I just planted these this winter and was wondering when they would actually take. Didn't take too long afterall. They were growing fairly abundantly at my parents' house when we decided to break them up and see if they would multiply again. If I had more time I'd get more fancy in caring for them, but for now they're doing pretty good on their own.

Saturday Photo Hunt - Unique/Funny Signs

2008-04-25T20:24:00.000-07:00

These are a couple of come to life signs around Universal Studios on my last visit.

Check out more at TNchick...

Thankful Thursday - Two Month Stats

2008-04-10T07:59:00.000-07:00

At his two month doctor's appointment last week our son got five shots (ouch) and an oral vile. He cried some, but was good the rest of the day. His stats are now:
Height: 24.5 inches
Weight: 14 lbs, 1 oz

He's still in six month clothes. And he actually began sleeping through the night when he turned 8 weeks old, but since the shots he's gone back to a 2am feeding. Oh and he smiles and smiles and smiles:) Lots to be thankful for...

You'll find more thankful thoughts at Sting My Heart.

Bustin' Out at the Seams at 4 Weeks Old

2008-02-26T19:23:00.000-08:00

Wordless Wednesday
Well I never expected to have to pack away all his 3 month sized clothes at just four weeks old last week! And here he is as always looking for Mr. Chicken during his diaper change for some comic relief. Once in awhile I'll catch him talking to it too.

For more WW check out 5Minutes and WW...

Thankful Thursday

2008-02-13T15:10:00.000-08:00

"Know that the Lord is God.
It is He who made us, and we are His..." (Ps 100:3)

This week I'm thankful for
my birthday last week (still hanging onto 30-something),
my baby boy is 3 weeks old this week,
I'm feeling more rested and eating better,
all the baby basics are getting easier too,
and the home is getting less chaotic.

And saw this beautiful double rainbow from my living room window.

Thank God and bless you!
You'll find more thankful thoughts at Sting My Heart.

Two Weeks Old Yesterday

2008-02-06T14:01:00.000-08:00

Diapers and Feeding and Burping and Sleeping ... Oh My!

Sounds so simple, yet it happens quite often throughout the day and night. But also our little prince has decided to struggle with going to sleep. So believe it or not it takes around an hour to two hours for each sequence of feeding and burping and diaper and sleeping to occur. Which leaves me with a grand total of around 45 minutes to a couple hours of sleep per sequence- well mostly overnight.

In the daytime I get caught up eating, washing bottles, doing a load of laundry - at the least. Well okay, and a tiny bit of blogging. But this time he's sleeping in my arms while I type with one hand. Last week I found myself telling hubby "I am not an octopus!"

Does it show I'm still very new at this? Though getting through these first two weeks has finally helped both of us and our little one to settle in and adjust better.

Thankful Thursday

2008-01-30T18:10:00.000-08:00

It's so amazing this little wonderful life has been put into our care for life. Thank you Lord for the beauty and miracle of life.

Thank you again for all your prayers. We were open to many adoption possibilities. And somehow all other doors were closed just so we could be matched with our little one. Our social worker reported to us yesterday that the day he was born was the day all the other social workers of kids we had put in a yes to were finally looking to see if we were still free for their kids. We were waiting two months for all their responses, and it was an agonizing wait. But wow, it worked out so nicely, beyond all that I could imagine! And to be blessed with the newborn experience I must confess is really nice.

God Bless you all:)
You'll find more thankful expressions at Sting My Heart.

It's a Baby Boy!

2008-01-28T13:20:00.000-08:00

We have a baby!!! No time for too many details yet. We only found out about him just a few days before his birth.

He's beautiful! Born January 22, at a whopping 9 pds 12oz. We were there for the delivery and haven't left his side since. The hospital kept him (and us) for a total of 80 sleepless hours. We were treated with excellent care there. We got home on Friday, and our first doctor's appointment is today.

Thank you so much for your prayers! More updates to follow, but personal time has become very scarce all of a sudden. No complaints about that. Yippeee!

Thankful Thursday

2008-01-15T09:34:00.000-08:00

Hubby just started back to a regular dayshift last week, and boy do we feel better. It had been a full year of waking up 1am to go to a 14 hour shift most times M-F. It was horrible and major insomnia for me. Even moms with a newborn only have sleepless nights for around 3 months. But 12 months was really pushing it - I was at my limit. Now his shift is around 10 hours a day or less - much better.

Onto adoption updates. We found a new agency to work with last Fall, and now we are in waiting mode once again. We had a close call of a match a couple weeks before Christmas of a sibling group of three, which then fell through as their county needed to do more thorough work on their case.

We're up for adopting through either of two methods with this agency. Either a newborn baby through a birthmom choosing us (which was the same case as our past agency). Or find kids in the foster system who are ready for adoption.

I had originally found this agency through my search for an international adoption, as I was thinking I'd like to adopt from Armenia - but in my research I found it could cost $40,000-50,000 easily (no thanks, can't bring a child into my life and struggle with that much extra debt - plus, the potential for scams or scandals are great).

We like this agency better since they call us almost weekly with possibilities, and we've already said yes to tons of cases. But it makes the rollercoaster ride of emotions that much harder. Plus during the holidays it seemed like all the social workers in the whole state just went on vacation because nobody was giving us updates on kids. Hopefully things will speed up alittle more now. We're trying very hard to keep in mind that God must have something very specific in mind for us.

God Bless you all:)
You'll find more thankful expressions at Sting My Heart.

Worth Seeing

2008-01-08T14:32:00.000-08:00

Sometimes good clean laughter means everything, or close to it anyway. And this movie provides just that. I signed up for a one month's unlimited movie rentals pass at Blockbuster. We rented around thirty movies in December, and I have to say the only one I could suggest as a must see is Mr. Bean's Holiday. It was filled with a ton of humorous Mr. Bean stunts throughout most of it. The setting takes place in beautiful sunny Europe. What more could you ask for?

Lean Green Speeding Machine

2008-01-07T15:56:00.000-08:00

After fourteen years of driving around my green Camaro, I finally sold it last summer to someone who lives two miles down the road. It was tough to part with, but it has been pretty neat to see it around town atleast once a month. This weekend I saw it coming down the street, racing through the intersection in front of me. My mouth dropped open in shock and some disgust - but there was also a part of me that was pretty proud for all the care I had put into it while it was in my ownership. I'm glad I get to see it around still in good shape and being enjoyed by a new generation of youth.

It's Epiphany!

2008-01-06T16:40:00.000-08:00

Today is Epiphany! On the calendar it completes the 12 days of Christmas from December 25 to Jabuary 6. It is the eastern orthodox day for Christmas in many other parts of the world. Every year I keep my lights shining as a symbol of the revelation of God to mankind in human form, in the person of Jesus Christ.

The term epiphany means "to show" or "to make known" or even "to reveal." In Western churches, it remembers the coming of the Wise Men bringing gifts to visit the Christ child, who by so doing "reveal" Jesus to the world as Lord and King.

The Wise Men or Magi who brought gifts to the infant Jesus were the first Gentiles to acknowledge Jesus as "King" and so were the first to "show" or "reveal" Jesus to a wider world as the incarnate Christ.

This act of worship by the Magi, which corresponded to Simeon’s blessing that this child Jesus would be "a light for revelation to the Gentiles" (Luke 2:32), was one of the first indications that Jesus came for all people, of all nations, of all races, and that the work of God in the world would not be limited to only a few.

So Merry Christmas and Happy Epiphany to all! May you open your hearts to the greater revelation of Christ as your Savior.

(This was a post from a year ago. Wanted to share it with you again this year.)

Have a Blessed 2008!

2007-12-31T08:47:00.000-08:00

My Cup is Plenty Full - Thoughts in Hindsight

2007-12-26T10:59:00.000-08:00

"And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:19)

I can't imagine life without a faith and a relationship in a loving God. The day after Christmas I often find myself finally taking a breath and saying, "Ah, we made it through and enjoyed it and were blessed." And then I looked ahead at the calendar and thought, "Oh gosh, there's still New Year's."

A part of me is often slightly nervous facing any of the yearly holidays. So much has the potential of either going wrong or not going the way we planned it. Often my imagination creates ideals of how I would like my Christmas and New Years to be spent, and not to mention Valentines or Mother's Day, birthdays, anniversaries, or even weekends for that matter. It's no wonder that some of us turn into workaholics or even busy "Marthas", perhaps so we won't have to deal with the various traps that free time and holidays can put us in.

It certainly isn't God's plan that we are put under this much pressure on Christmas. In fact, God's plan is that we are surrounded and reminded of His ultimate love for us.

But the pressure comes more from us, doesn't it. Some pressures move us further away from His loving plans. The squeeze of the commercial side of Christmas. And the squeeze of the relational side of this and any holiday. And even the squeeze from our own expectations.

And it's not so much that we are under pressure either. As I reflect back at getting ready for Christmas, it does take a certain amount of risk to be in a position of giving and receiving. There are risks in relating with others and making sure we understand one another and others understand us. Sometimes we get it right, and sometimes we blow it. And then sometimes others blow it, and we end up suffering those consequences.

However the holidays unfolded, and I was sure to take the time to be thankful to God for all that was certain and all that was enjoyed. I made the best tasting lemonade with the lemons I was dealt throughout the year. Because God is bigger than any holiday or what we do to it. And nothing can take away or diminish the true goodness and blessing behind each holiday.

You'll find more thankful expressions at Lynn's...

Merry Christmas To All

2007-12-24T09:03:00.000-08:00

And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth
(Luke 1:14).I found this lovely gingerbread nativity on the Better Homes and Gardens website. Wishing you a Merry Christmas!

2007-12-20T12:26:00.000-08:00

Another Christmas music video here...