My life...in a devotional.

Gwen Smith

Today’s Truth
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33, NIV).

Friend to Friend
When I was a little girl, one of my favorite things to do was to twirl in the grass. With arms out stretched, I’d spin around and around until I was silly-dizzy, and then fall to the ground with a giggly heart. It was thrilling, invigorating and a fun and simple way to spend a lazy summer day in the rolling hills of southwestern Pennsylvania. Now that I’m older, I can’t handle spinning in circles. My body rejects any twisty endeavor. Nausea quickly sets in and reminds me that I’m not a “spinny-girl” anymore.

A few years ago while my family and I were at an amusement park, in an effort to gain favor in the eyes of my kids and earn imaginary super mom points, I enthusiastically got on a ride that spins in circles. My hero-husband always goes on this type of ride with our children, so I thought, “If Brad can do it, then I can do it, right?”

What a joke!

I walked up the ramp to the wretched “Wheel of Whirl” naively optimistic and walked down the ramp having made a great big fool of myself. The park employee had to stop the ride to let me off. Bad decision. Yucky feelings followed. Instead of becoming super mom, I became super sick mom. My center of balance and my emotions were quickly thrown off leaving my poor family with the disenchanting consequences of my twirling ambitions.

Just like that day in the amusement park, I constantly find myself thrown off balance from the wheeling whirl-of-life clutter. Why? Simply put: I complicate my life.

If we’re being honest – and I assure you, I’m all about straight talk – then I’d have to confess that I am one of my own biggest obstacles to living life as an uncluttered woman. I know that I should depend solely on God for direction and strength, but the simple fact is I often don’t. Most of us would admit that this is the case. It is hard to sift through all that is thrown at us each day. Clutter happens and it challenges all of us. I’m in the trenches with you and readily admit that navigating this silly-dizzy world is difficult.

There are ten bazillion things that compete for our attention and clutter our faith: emotions, materialism, negative thinking, overbooked schedules, doubts, legalism, laziness, self-reliance, our past pains and failures, technology, work, our need to control things, finances, debt, stress, addictions, discontentment and relationships. And I’m just getting started! This list could go on forever.

The Bible instructs us to direct our silly-dizzy days toward God. “Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and he will establish your plans” (Proverbs 16:3, NIV).

In His presence, God gives order to both our thoughts and our to-do lists. Everything changes when we seek Him first and commit our plans to Him. The journey to becoming an uncluttered woman is all about personal contact with Jesus. You and I will experience greater peace and deeper faith as we determine to respond to His constant invitation to come. But don’t worry. Jesus is no stranger to clutter. He walked the same earth we do and dealt with the same struggles and problems we deal with. He loved many a cluttered woman while here on earth and many more before and since His ascension. He knows your clutter – your stuff – and He invites you to come just the same.

When we position ourselves in the presence of the Peace-giver and look to Him to lead and prioritize our heart matters, the uncluttering begins.

Let it begin.

Short but sweet

Well, January is quickly wrapping up and I haven't had the time to stop and take a breath until TODAY!

My poor neglected blog. This entry will be short. But I am thinking of taking our blog into a new direction. Our plans of going overseas to be support missionaries is getting closer. I will post more as we know more, so stay tuned. It maybe that I make a whole new blog. But no worries, you will be in the loop! :)

I took a minute to update, and that's about all the kids would allow me to do. Story of my life with 3 boys under the age of 5. Sweet Pea is protesting...loudly.

Hoping to post again soon...but until then, keep your chins up, February means we're all that much closer to Spring!
Floradie
PS. My Christmas tree came down yesterday. Woo hoo, I did it before Valentine's Day! ;)

It's the holiday season...

It's that time of year again. It came faster than expected.
Christmas is next week, people!

I feel so unprepared. We just put up the tree this week and decorated it finally--yesterday. The presents are halfway wrapped. The house and this blog are decorated.I guess all of that is a step in the right direction.

I did have time to make 2 batches of chocolate covered Ritz peanut butter cookies this week. Gotta remember the important stuff! ;)

Last year was a different story. I had present's I picked up all through out the year and ready to go by Thanksgiving. I don't where my head was this past year. Well, I take that back. I know where it was, it was in baby land. Next year will probably be better.

I am grateful that my hubby and mother-in-law watched the kiddos for me recently so I could go Christmas shopping. Miracle of miracles I found pretty much everything for everyone on one all-day shopping spree. Thankfully I also had the good ol' internet to finish up the last little touches. So before I beat myself up too much for feeling behind, I will acknowledge that at least I got it all done the week before Christmas!

I do feel good that the house is decorated for Christmas now and this stuff ain't coming down until Valentine's Day! ;)

I need to run, Lil' Cowboy just came in from helping daddy shovel snow, missing a boot and a glove. Poor kid, glad I caught him before more clothing items fell off.

Stay warm and enjoy the holiday season celebrating Jesus' birth and spending time with the ones you love,
Floraladie

7 weeks and counting

My little Sweet Pea is 7 weeks. How time flies! We had our photos taken by a friend and here are two of the many captures she got. She did a great job! Getting good photos of a squirmy little one is quite a feat!
It helps if they fall asleep! These days, it's a blessing to have him sleeping. I think he is going through a growth spurt. We've been up a lot at night these past few nights with a little guy who has his days/nights mixed up. But it seems to me, it was the same while he was in my womb.
I have to remind myself that this is a stage. Both Flying Jae and Lil' Cowboy both made it through this stage with flying colors! Nowadays they are great sleepers and have a hard time getting up in the morning. That is only a problem when we have to go somewhere early.

We are getting ready for the holiday season. Once again, where does time go? I think I have been in la-la land (aka: Baby brain) lately. How can Christmas be right around the corner?
I still have Christmas shopping to do, Christmas decorating to accomplish and who knows if I will get to Christmas baking this year. It may be that I have to call upon the help of Betty Crocker and Duncan Hines to help me out.

But then again...who needs all of those goodies when one is trying to lose the baby weight? Although now that I mention it, one does need to keep an extra layer of "fluff" on to stay warm in these kinds of temperatures, don't they? :) Bring on the sweets, tomorrow is supposed to be 9 degrees!!

If it gets any colder, I may just need to eat a batch of cookies a day (chocolate chip cookies to be exact!) just to stay warm and not run the risk of having to turn the heat up and having to pay more for our electricity. Hmmm, a larger electricity bill or a smaller waist line? Decisions, decisions...but so far the extra goodies seems to be winning in my mind! ;)

Try to stay warm out there, and if that means adding an extra cookie or two to your meal times, then by all means, do what you HAVE to do.
Floraladie

He's Arrived!

Our littlest Sweet Pea has finally arrived! He made his arrival into this world on October 14th, 2010 at 37 weeks exactly.
I had mild-pre-eclampsia symptoms starting to come on a couple of weeks prior. The doctor decided to induce me before things got worse.
10/13/10 My blood pressure was 160/90 and I had trace protein in my urine. My head felt like there was a lot of pressure behind it and I just didn't "feel right."
So during our check up the doctor told us to make plans to head to Labor and Delivery that afternoon.
Thankfully my sweet sister, was home with the kids, and Mr. Pilot was with me (with bags packed-just in case!) for this appointment, so we were ready to go!
Our previous pregnancies have gone this way, so we knew what to expect. Our doctor encouraged us to spend the afternoon having fun before I was tied down to a bed for induction.
So Mr. Pilot and me had a wonderful afternoon date together. Mongo's Grill for lunch...YUM!
Shopping at Anthropologie and then window shopping at "frou-frou" baby boutique shops was a wonderful way to relax and enjoy the gorgeous day.

10/13/10 4pm We got to the hospital and set up for the induction. I was given Cytotec (sp), a capsule to ripen the cervix. By 10pm, I was getting contractions, but was not dilated enough.
So we were told to get a good nights sleep and start the second round of induction at 7am.
Try sleeping in a hospital, with nurses checking you often and having magnesium being pumped into your IV! So not the most restful night, but I was excited...and OH SO NERVOUS!

10/14/10 7am. The pitocin drip is started, contractions start coming on strongly, the epidural is put in place at 11am (thank you LORD!) and by 12:10pm I started feeling the strong urge to push. At 12:26pm 6 lb. 6oz 19 3/4 inches long our little Sweet Pea arrived into the world!
He was born with a higher bilirubin levels, so the doctors decided to keep him an extra day or two. And my blood pressure went up after the birth. So Sweet Pea was sent home with a bili-blanket and me with blood pressure medicine. We were released at 5pm on Sunday.

Here our Sweat Pea's big brother's Lil' Cowboy and Flying Jae with Grandma a.k.a my sweet birthing coach and Mr. Pilot a.k.a wonderful birthing coach and husband!
Flying Jae had a run-in with the wall, and had to get a staple in his head while we were giving birth. But my sister took care of him and the doctor run during that incident. He was quite proud to show off his headband and tell of his time at the clinic.

We are HOME sweet home now. Trying to catch up on sleep and getting little Sweet Pea into a routine (HA!). We have a followup doc appointment to make sure all is well with the both of us tomorrow. So far he is filling his drawers and eating good, all good signs that bili-levels are lowering.
Very grateful to my mom-in-law for taking Sweet Pea's brothers for the week. I miss them terribly, but I am glad to have some peace and quiet.
Don't be surprised if this is the last post for a while now...life with 3 kids is going to be interesting, I just know it! :)
Happy to have my little Sweet Pea finally here, in my arms!
Floraladie
PS. Newborn babies smell so delicious! Just thought I'd add that for all of those ladies out there considering having a baby anytime soon (you know who you are! ;).

Life these days?

Life's latest happenings? Well, it was going well, until the past 24 hours. My blood pressure started going up again. Maybe baby this week? I have a doctor appointment Friday, that could be D-Day. But only the Lord knows what is in store for this little guy. He and I both are anxious to get this show on the road. I can tell he wants OUT! :)


Meanwhile we've been enjoying the beautiful weather we've been having these past few days. We spent one afternoon at the lake. We had a great time on the water fishing (so much so I didn't get pictures!) and touring the homes by boat.
The boys had a wonderful time holding the dead minnows we were using as bait. (They were alive when we bought those sucker's but they don't live long!) Lil'Cowboy had a little too much fun with his fish and squished the head off. Or possibly bit it off? Not sure exactly what happened there.

And the last, but definitely not the least, the biggest, happiest happenings around here is having my dear 18-year-old sister visiting to help out with the kiddos during the end of this pregnancy. We always tend to have "dramatic" births around here. So having all the help we can get is very much appreciated!

Here is a picture of her beautiful face:



Hoping to have some pictures of the boys to post soon. And hopefully their brother will be here quickly to join them on the photo shoot--coming soon!
Floraladie

Officially Nap Day

It's been one of those weeks. I've been on the go a lot! We had the chance to stay at a hotel for 5 days while Mr. Pilot took some classes for his work this past week. This week followed a previously busy week. My first thoughts upon hearing we'd be staying at a hotel suite was, "Yes! Finally some rest! Nice comfy king size bed, cartoons for the kiddos. Sounds fabulous!"
Well, the suite was nice. Very nice, because there was a door between the suite area and the room. So the kids got their own room and so did we. So nap times, I could close the door so everyone had peace and quiet.
But 3 of the 5 days there, we were on the go, driving back and forth between the hotel and home for MOPS stuff, shopping for essentials and getting our tires replaced. So I made sure we had 2 days where I planned nothing but REST.

Haha, rest in a hotel room with kids is comical to say the least.

One of the reasons I am resting (trying to) is because near the end of my pregnancies I start developing pre-eclampisa. My blood pressures goes up, I start swelling up like a blowfish and they find protein in my urine. Last week, my blood pressure started to go up. Uh oh, this could be the beginning of the a very interesting next couple of weeks.

So back to the hotel room. The 2 days we had nothing planned but rest. It did happen...in spurts.
I brought coloring books, crayons, books, toys, snacks galore. And then there is the good ol' cartoons all day.
But every time I laid down and got comfy--(that takes a lot of doing being 8 months preggo) the kids would get into some sort of trouble.
Whether it was drawing on the walls with crayons, making "soup" out of their snacks in the ice bucket, not making it to the bathroom in time to get the "poopies" in the toilet :{ or bumping heads on coffee tables, there was not a whole lot of resting that happened. In fact, I think my blood pressure went up even more because of it. Thankfully, my sweet hubby, would come back from his classes in the evenings and take over with the kids.
Took them to the indoor pool, let them sit the tub for a long time to play and kept them busy for me so I could lay down. Ahhh, now that was more like it! :)


Thankfully, by my quick doctor's appointment at the end of our trip, my blood pressure was down to a normal range.
So today, we are home sweet home. My agenda for the whole day was: Nap-Day-Because-Mom-Is-Exhausted-Day! Which, by the way, should really be a weekly event.
It worked! We all slept in until after 10am. Took naps at 2 and got up at 5pm. I think everyone was exhausted from our hotel stay. It's been a "suite" day! Just don't drop by and look at my house any time soon. ;)
Glad to be back home,
Floraladie