I'm alive and well!

I was informed today that it's been awhile since my last post. *Ahem, thank you Celeste*
I still read people's blogs. It just takes me forever to upload pictures and type up a post. So I haven't kept up with it. And I don't feel guilty about it.

Stephen and I have experienced a lot of growth and maturing over the past 6 months. We've had an amazing boost in our faith and are thoroughly enjoying seeking Christ together and separately.
We've had some awesome healing in our little family and the closer we cling to Christ the better it's getting. Not everything is sunshine all the time, but we see the value of a life in Christ and we are seeking it with all we have. We have enjoyed learning more about God and his purpose for our life. Although we're still unsure of what He has for us we are enjoying being in His care, surrendering every part of our life to Him, and are eager to follow where He leads.

Here's a little update on the boys:

Sam will be 3 in a month. I have mixed emotions about this. He keeps declaring that he "is almost 3" and that we will be having "a happy birthday party" for him. He doesn't know what he's talking about, but he will very soon and then he will probably ask the rest of the year when his happy birthday is.

He is so much fun and says the most hilarious things. For example, today while riding in the car he said, "Mom, Jesus rides a motorcycle and He has to wear a helmet or He could get hurt".
Lol, I had to laugh! I don't know how he connected those two, but he did. I told him that "Jesus, in fact, does not ride a motorcycle and if He did He more than likely wouldn't need a helmet".

Sam is absolutely 100% boy. He loves Legos, motorcycles, dump trucks, trains, and poop. He loves to dance and sing. He loves to dig holes in his sandbox. He helps feed the chickens, collects eggs, empties and sorts his laundry hamper, put dishes away, pick up his toys, and set the table. He loves to be read to; his favorite books are his Bible storybook and Chicka chicka boom boom. (I know, lol, two completely different books).

He likes to surprise me by blowing raspberries on my belly. He loves making a "bear cave" with Daddy in our bed with all of the blankets. He also likes to wear his tiger costume and call himself "Tiger Boy", roaring at anyone that dares to cross him. He loves playing with his Daddy and is always up for a good wrestling match or tossing. They tend to have some pretty crazy dance-offs, too.

Sam is a tough guy, but has a sweet heart. He is very perceptive and notices when something isn't right (such as: holes in the ceilings of stores, lights that are blown out, somethings out of place, ect).
A few nights ago during Family Bible he noticed my hands were broken out really bad with eczema. He ask if my hands were hurt and I said yes. We've been talking about how God created our bodies to heal when we get cuts and bruises and we pray for healing when someone gets hurt. It is so sweet to hear a child's prayer. I asked Sam if he'd like to pray for my hands. Sometimes he'll repeat what we say, but this time he prayed all by himself. He said, "Dear Lord ("Lawt", gosh that's cute!) please heal Momma's bruise on her hands. And thank you for dying for our sins on the cross". I love that childlike faith. Even through the hardships of being a parent it is truly a beautiful thing to see my babies growing up in the Lord and our family being united in Christ.

Here's a couple pics of my big boy:

October 2010 - Before I accidentally buzzed his hair :(

He thought a heart-shaped sandwich was pretty cool.

I love seeing the joy on his face :)

Big boy helper --- I love that kid!!

Liam. Oh man. He goes by many names.
Mema, Liam-boy, Monk, Monkey boy, Puffy, Puff-baby, Lee-lee, Lee-baby, Little Lee, Uggs, Peg-leg Lee, Scrawn-John.
But most of all he goes by the name of Trouble.
Liam is my rough and tumble, test the limits, throw-a-huge-fit-if-you-take-something-away-from-me baby. He also has found a new game he loves to play called "Throw a toy at Sam's head". He has very, very good aim. He doesn't get away with much, but I can't say I don't blame him. He has gotten pushed down, hit, bit, and tackled for the past 16 months of his life. I figured payback would come, but not this soon. All that to say, we are working on Liam and his behavior, attitude, and overall character, lol.

He's not all bad, I'm not trying to make him out that way. We had quite the day today, so it is fresh in my mind.

Liam is definitely my goof ball child. Sam gets crazy, but Liam is nuts. He's typically doing something weird and then cackling at himself. Hmm, must get it from me now that I think about it. Ha!
He is also our snuggler. Sam wasn't, and still isn't, much of a snuggler, but throw a blanket over Liam and he collapses into mush. *sigh*
He is so scrawny and has the skinniest little chicken legs, but he eats like a cow. He typically eats his own food, then seconds, and then Sam's food. Beast. He only weighs 20 pounds though. Sam weighs 27.

Liam doesn't talk much. He says "ligh" and points to any light. "mooo" for moon. He yells "dadadadadada" anytime he sees or thinks about Stephen, lol. And he will say "Momma" when he's getting in trouble with Daddy or just falling out tired. Other than that he says "bababababa" in his crazy voice when referring to me. He can only have his paci when he's in bed. The only problem is that Sam keeps "helping" by giving Liam his paci. Otherwise he might talk more.

Here's some pics of my little troublemaker:

Mm, those blue eyes :)

This is by far the most hilarious picture I have.
I'm tellin ya, he's a weird-o.

Sweet boy

Little Monkey Boy, look at that crazy face.
Woo! I love him!

And this pic cracks me up. Sam's making faces in the screen and Liam is freaking out. Oh the joys of boys. I think I could handle 10 boys, eh?

This is by far the best family pic we've ever taken.
I love my guys!
God is good and we are so incredibly blessed :)

Article for Women

Ladies,

I came across this article in my Facebook feed and am putting it on my blog in case any of you are interested in this topic. I am, obviously, lol.

Good article!

*The Amy that wrote the article is not me, jtlyk.

Back Away from My Cervix

by Amy on August 31, 2010

Welcome! If you're new to The Finer Things in Life, you might like to subscribe for free updates. Subscribe via RSS to read updates in your favorite feed reader, or via email to have new posts delivered directly to your inbox. Thanks for visiting!

"If you’re new here, you might want to catch up on the Why Didn’t Anyone Tell Me? series.

Hello, my name is Amy. I’m 37+ weeks along with my 4th baby. I do not know how far dilated I am. I do not know if I am effaced. I do not know the station of my baby. I do not know, because it doesn’t matter!

With much trepidation at my 32 week appointment, I finally gathered the courage to tell my new doctor about my strong aversion to vaginal exams. It went something like this:

Him: Any questions?

Me: Well, yes. {said in my best trying-to-be-confident while rambling voice} I’ve never had a vaginal exam done until I’m well into labor because from all my research I know they are almost always unnecessary and I see no reason to go through the discomfort all for false hope or false discouragement because I’ve known people to walk around at a 4 for a month and other people be completely closed one day and have the baby 12 hours later, and then there’s the risk of infection or inducing labor so you don’t need to do them, right?

Him: {grinning at my obvious discomfort} Actually, it’s refreshing to not have to convince a patient that vaginal exams are unnecessary. I don’t do them if you don’t want them done, because vaginal exams provide useless information. There is no need for them in most pregnancies.

Me: {internal happy dance}

I’m a never say never kind of girl, and I know that there are circumstances where a vaginal exam might provide necessary information… maybe you’re way overdue, you’re trying for a v-bac, you think you might be in early labor and you live hours from the hospital, etc. but in the vast majority of normal, healthy pregnancies, vaginal exams are not necessary or helpful.

The Myth of the Vaginal Exam in Pregnancy explains it much better than I do.

…The common belief is that by doing a vaginal exam one can tell that labor will begin soon. This is not the case…

…Many people try to use the information that is gathered from a vaginal exam to predict things like when labor will begin, or if the baby will fit through the pelvis. A vaginal exam simply cannot measure these things…

…Labor is not simply about a cervix that has dilated, softened, or anything else. A woman can be very dilated and not have her baby before her due date or even near her due date. I’ve personally had women who were 6 centimeters dilated for weeks before labor began. Then there is the sad woman who calls me to say that her cervix is high and tight, she’s been told that this baby isn’t coming for awhile, only to be at her side as she gives birth within 24 hours…

…Vaginal exams can increase the risks of infection, even when done carefully and with sterile gloves, etc. It pushes the normal bacteria found in the vagina upwards towards the cervix. There is also increased risk of rupturing the membranes. Some practitioners routinely do what is called stripping the membranes, which separates the bag of waters from the cervix. The thought behind this is that it will stimulate the production of prostaglandins to help labor begin by irritating the cervix, causing it to contract. This has not been shown to be effective for everyone and does have the aforementioned risks…

(click over for the full article)

It’s your body, your baby, your birth. For me, I’m thinking if it’s not helpful… if it’s not necessary… if there are risks… well then, just back away from my cervix!"

The End of NSM

So I'm at the end of No Spend Month.
I can't tell you exact numbers because I stopped counting, lol.

However I still had a nice amount leftover in my Grocery Budget
and all of the baby stuff I bought at Kroger a few weeks ago sold
at RL's. So I made my money back and then some. So technically
I've got quite a bit of my GB left.

I only ate out 4-5 times this entire month.
Twice was at Taco Bell, so it didn't cost much.
Except for a couple years off of my life.

Even though I got off track and stopped counting everything
I ended up having so many things to do that I didn't have time
to go out and shop around. Or maybe it sounds better if I say I
didn't shop around because I found lots of things I needed to do.

Every time I was out being frugal was on my mind, so pretty much everything
I picked up came with questions. "Do I need this?" "Will I use this in the
next few days/weeks?" "Do we really need to eat that?" "Is it crucial that
I buy a Reese's at the checkout?" The answer to the last question was
typically yes. I did not regret it. Neither did Sam.

All in all I think it was a pretty successful month and I'm glad I kind of
did it, lol. I will unofficially continue with NSM.

No Spend Month - Day 26

Another week is almost over.
Not to mention this month!

I have been so busy this week!
My sister and her baby stayed the night Monday, Tuesday night we had home group,
Wednesday night we stayed home and spent time as a family, and tonight I'm dropping my stuff off at the consignment sale.
All that to say I haven't been anywhere to buy anything, so I haven't spent any money this week. Woo hoo!

We've been eating from the freezer which has actually been easier than I thought, so I haven't had to go buy anything from the grocery store. I will probably go tomorrow, however, because we are running low on staples.

NSM has been really good for me. I've been getting more things done and have enjoyed staying home and finding things to do rather than load the kids up and walk aimlessly around a store.

Maybe I'll carry this on into September...

No Spend Month - Day 19

We're still doing NSM.
I don't have time to type out a big update so here's whatcha get.

We've gotten a bit lax and went out to eat last Friday. Boo.
I'm still within my Grocery Budget.
We're out of allowance money. Both of us a bit in the negative, but not by much.

I haven't gone shopping for anything this week, so therefore have had no
temptations to buy anything. I've kept myself busy this week with the upcoming consignment sale.

I even had a moment of craftiness and sewed a grocery bag holder. This one with different fabric. Super easy instructions. And I'm in love with this website. I'm going to do the light switch covers eventually. My crafting abilities come in very small spurts, so it could be a while.

Alrighty! Until next weeks update, hopefully.