4 years... 12 years.... same thing!

We celebrated out 4 yr. anniversary this weekend, Jen reminded me promptly it's REALLY been 12 years that we have known each other. Needless to say, Bry and I had a great weekend away and it's amazing what a few days of just the two of you can do for not only your relationship with each other... but also your relationship with everyone else too. We missed Kehnley a lot, but it's so good to have those moments, I for one see her all day everyday and I need time to forget how sweet and beautiful, and funny she is.

Same for Bry, I was reminded this weekend JUST how funny and smart and amazing he is. We laughed so much I thought I was going to have contractions! It's an odd thing that happens to a couple day after day if your not careful, you start to just see the person but not really LOOK at them, talk to them but not really ENGAGE in conversation, hug them but not EMBRACE the moments...and I am talking about the two of us who really DO love being together, talk all the time about everything, cuddle and "keep the romance candle burning" --as my dad once said, but that's a different and very funny story and I know totally hilarious coming from our dad... but anyway... point is, we WORK at our marriage, but it doesn't feel like work, and even couples that "work" at it need a weekend to get away from distractions and remember just how precious time together really is. I totally take him for granted. I take his smile for granted, his sense of humor, his patience...
We stayed at the Woodlands Spa and honestly, we did NOTHING but sleep, eat, watch movies, get into funny situations, workout, eat some more, sleep some more, couples massages, shop, and just enjoy each other's company. We went to the museum, my fav. restaurants, I learned so much about Bry's job and about his hopes for the future, we talked about some of our fav. moments over the past 4 years of marriage...listen to songs we danced to in high school. One of the really funny things that happened lol was we had been given choc. covered strawberries and sparkling cider from the hotel the night we arrived and they forgot to give us a bottle opener, so Bry tried to use the side of the table, made a chip, then tried the pocket knife... no luck, tried it again on the table in a diff spot ( not sure why) cracked the table there... then when we finally got the bottle open he picked up the glass to pour some and somehow BROKE the stem off the glass... we were just standing there staring at the bubble fizzing in the glass with no stem... Bry shrugged and took a sip... I think we laughed for like 20 min after, I cant help but crack up now when I recall the look on his face.... it was like a gaping jaw and bug eyes lol. He was like "don't let me touch anything else tonight" Then I raided the lounge and found their stash of party mix nuts.... snuck it into the room along with two apples, two granola bars, and two bags of chips... JUST as the worker guy was coming off the elevator set up our movie... I had to sprint with all my goodies tucked somewhere between my chin and belly and do a 360 turn to keep him from seeing... kind of hilarious for a 9 month preggers girl to be running in her pjs with snack packs and qb sneak moves to get into the room...
Bry-- "where did you FIND all that!"
Keri-- "in the lounge, hush and help me hide this stuff"
I still dont think it was stealing bc it was just sitting there! Yeah I DID hide it from worker guy, but either way, we had some snacks for our late night movie marathon!

We are back at home and I am probably keeping Bry from good sleep with the "tap tap" of they keyboard, but I just wanted to record some of the weekend before it was forgotten... it's so great to have these memories to look back on and help me remember what a true treasure our marriage is. I know ppl all over the world now and for centuries have and do celebrate their marriages, but I can't help but feel what we have is special and blessed. I feel God's favor over us. Off to bed now, need to be ready to wake with joy with the first little glint of sun when Kehnley thinks the whole world is needing to be up too! :) I have to admit the past couple days I have DREADED that sunrise for lack of a better reason other than exhaustion and the endless list of "to do's" but I am actually looking forward to this one... God has given me a renewed spirit of purpose and pleasure in the day to day with those I love and have taken for granted in weeks past. I also can't wait to appreciate the love of my life tomorrow too...12 years, wow...I still feel like I'm 15 sometimes when I am with him

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"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. "

1 Peter 2:9

Big Girl Bed

Kehnley had her first night in a big girl bed tonight. It was SO hard for me to put her in there, I just really struggled with it being time or not. But Bry reminded me of how we would need the next 4 weeks to get her used to it and give her full attention to the change before Sadie comes. So we spent the night getting the bed in place and rearranging furniture and it looks great, a few things to do to feel totally DONE but they are going to have to get my attention later.
Here is the old room....





Here is the new room....










She really loves it and we made it like a HUGE deal, telling everyone having her show everyone, really praising her for getting to have this big bed.



Time comes to try it out, we get bath, pick out a few books and the ritual begins, we read two books, sang a few songs, prayed together and got all her babies tucked in... she seamed okay and I told her daddy and I were going to sleep too after daddy got out of the shower. So I leave and daddy had turned on a night light (placing it behind her doll house which REALLY freaked me out lol, but Kehnley didn't seam to mind...)

A few sec go by and she comes walking out of the room "good morning mom"

well, it wasn't morning I tell her and walk her back to bed. The next time I leave the room and go to find Bry looking at her on the video monitor... we see her push back the covers, slide down the back of the bed and her little head bobbing as she is walking to the door... lol we cant stop laughing! I quickly run and do the "Risky Business" slide to meet her in the hallway "what are you doing out of bed I say" she replies "hey mom", and then turns around and gets back in bed. Two more times we watch as she gets out of bed, head bobs to the door but then she turns and goes to get back in bed before coming out. The breaking point was when she turns to her stuffed animals sharing the covers with her and says in a cracking almost cry voice "mom will be here in a minute" Bry couldn't take it, he goes to lay down with her for a bit. After a little while I went and got him and she cried for a bit but stayed in bed. It's now night three and she has slept every night in her bed.... of course as soon as 7:30 hits and the "sun is awake" she runs into our room to let us know its morning :)



It's turning out better than I thought... but man those mornings are coming early :) We are back to locking ourselves in our bedroom after putting baby girl to sleep to give her the impression that all the world is sleeping when she is.

Under Construction

There are so many things that fall into this category right now... we just finished getting Christmas decor put away and the house somewhat in place again... where to put all K's new toys? This blog site for one, it's a new year already and time to take off the Christmas look. There are so many pics sitting on my camera waiting to be loaded and tweaked. ( i know it doesn't sound very important but with 30 days left til a new baby comes, those that have other kids will understand the need to go ahead and organize pics ALREADY taken to get ready for more memories to be recorded, because lets face it I wont have anytime to do it the first few months after! I got a flip and have started recording some great videos... uploading to be done there too!

We have moved Kehnley into a big girl bed and her room is still under construction...painting to be done, new routines to be made... and door knobs to be changes! We have those kinds with longer handles that she can open and shut on her own, but they aren't on yet so we are just leaving the door cracked for now, yet to see how the morning workout will work with this new bedroom set up :). Sadie's room is full of furniture to move and the garage has furniture to be stained and put together. Tomorrow we go to get a new baby bed.... so when I say "Under Construction"... there is SO much to DO that's all I keep thinking, not to mention bags for the hospital to pack, some custom art for the girls rooms to do, and a few last minute things to sew and get done for Sadie's bedding and curtains and all that.

BUT, in the midst of all this "to do-ing" and the things that wake me at 3 am... God keeps reminding me that all this is so trivial and unimportant in the long run, as I spent a few hours in the ER with Bryson on Thursday because he had crazy high blood pressure, fever, and growing pain in his side. We have yet to get a true diagnosis, but we are going to some other docs tomorrow I hope. This is NOT at all of equal importance and Bry is going to find it crazy that I mention it in the same category but even the DOG has to go to the vet bc she jumped out of the car and hurt her leg... like I said, NOT equal importance, but she is still limping around and throwing up or "blahhhh-ing" as Kehnley says, but I don't think we have enough money in the account to cover what the vet would want to even treat her.... I'm kind of at a loss of what to do about that.

So, while all these things big and small are on my long list of what to do in the next month, some needing more attention than others God gave me with scripture:
Proverbs 4:25-27
"Look straight ahead and fix your eyes on what lies before you. Mark out a straight path for your feet; then stick to the path and stay safe. Don't get side tracked, keep your feet from evil."

One of the greatest evils I could fall to in this time that I know so many struggle with especially in times of chaos or a lot of things going on, planning to do, life change... is the temptation to think that it can all be done alone, that it's more important than growing with the Lord, or that it's something that you share your attention and affection for the Lord with. I don't want a divided heart, I don't want to worship created things instead of the creator... I don't want to fill my heart and mind with worldly things and wonder why I am so frazzled. I think of Shirley, the woman who stands on the corner of a major freeway in our city who is homeless, she has a nervous pacing and who is cold tonight with no bed, no food, and no family to my knowledge and I think of the things that I spend my time worrying about, how silly are they compared to her needs? I want to remember that. My heart is under construction and I am praying God clear out all distractions to make room for only one thing... Himself.

This post is kind of all over the place, but I guess that's where I am right now. In short I realized this weekend the things that really do matter to me most, are not getting my full attention, and I am grateful that God opened my eyes to that. Time to change.

Snow Day!

New Traditions

My mom gave me this book a year ago, and like most great things for some reason I didn't pick it up and read it just then... instead it's taken me a whole year to dive in. I DO believe that God has perfect timing and it's so fresh on my heart to try and integrate Him in everything that we do... which is sooo hard to do these days. Ever since these verses in Deuteronomy became alive to Bry and I "Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates." We are striving to find ways to let the rue heritage of Christ be what we pass on to our children, not something that collects dust in the attic for generations.

Against our best efforts here comes Santa Clause right down Santa Clause lane and there are all kinds of other things to draw my child's eye from the single lit star above the manger. How unappealing a baby in a wooden box looks in lieu of lights of the houses with yards full of blown up blimp sized icons of our time. Part of me wants to think it's silly and it's nothing to fight for and it's just something to join in on, but I can't rest at night without this aching in my heart telling me to fight for truth in that little star. And to take the time to tell my little wide eyed girl, face aglow in the tree light, WHY we do what we do and to impress upon her the oddity that is SHE getting gifts, when it's really Jesus' birthday. You may be thinking "she's only two, what's the rust" or "so does this mean you won't give gifts or talk about Santa?" All this is irrelevant if the focus comes from to give or not to give, to Santa or not to Santa.

A haunting question came to me from the pages of this book I mentioned earlier....the one my mom gave to ME a Christmas ago (it's not my birthday either) it asks : "What do your greatest treasure, what is most precious to me? How do I express that treasure in my life? How do I pass that on to my children and those in my circle? Christ IS our greatest treasure... and we have to find creative and appealing ways to pass THIS inheritance on to our little followers who are trying to take it all in and find out what it's all about. If I truly believe that this time of year is most precious to me because of the promise that was being fulfilled in Christ being born, the gifts that we give to honor Him, the joy and the wonder...loving God, loving others, then I am going to fight fervently to make that known to my children more than a fat man in a red suit who comes to give them everything their hearts' desire. We are going to start traditions that honor God over the other, even if she wakes on Christmas morning with stockings full of presents, she will know it's really Jesus' birthday, and what He wants most is her heart.

My Hot date with a Crock Pot!

I had just gone to the store, ran errands, picked up a package, come from the court house standing in the longest line known to man for a speeding ticket, unloaded the groceries, put them in the respected place, moved a sleeping child from the car to the bed, fed the dog and looked at the clock realizing I had yet to eat lunch. So I make myself a lunch, take out the trash, throw a load of laundry on... NOW it's 3:00 and I NEED to find something to think about cooking for dinner to be ready by 6:30! What to do, what to do...

AHA! I realize that I bought some pork ribs at the store bc they were on sale for only $2.50! So the Sandra Lee in me thinks what can I throw together in my pantry that will make this a meal for a hungry hubby who hasnt eaten a home cooked meal in two weeks... (since we were out of town for the holiday)
I turn on the Crock Pot and here is what I find, feel free to try it one cold night when you need a no fuss meal, quick and easy... by quick I mean, prep bc it actually takes 3 1/2 hrs to cook in the clow cooker, but SO easy!

Pork Ribs and Roasted Veggies

1 rack of pork ribs (pre seasoned with a rub or you can season on your own)
1 pkg of brown gravy mix ( I used Pioneer Brand Fat Free Brown gravy mix)
1 1/2 cups of water
4 to 5 large new potatoes sliced in wedges
1 cup of mini carrots (whole)
Slt/P - to taste
*any other seasonings you like with your meat, I used lowerys season salt and onion salt and some fresh thyme -to taste

Place carrots and potatoes in bottom of crock pot then top with the ribs, pour gravy mixed with the water over top and cover. Cook on High for 3 1/2 hrs. You will have a full meal with pork falling off the bone! And enough left overs to send your honey to work with a hot lunch :)

Enjoy!

what-cha thinkin bout?

Kehnley always asks me this question... lately it's answer is harder to find because there is always so much running through this head of mine. At thirty weeks pregnant I am mostly thinking about how FAST time goes by. How do I slow it down? Here are some of my most recent fav. moments...
(this will have to be the first of a few volumes since I haven't posted in so long!)

Halloween Night 2009