Thankful Thursday!

I am thankful for the women (and men) that read this blog and don't know who I am but still care about me. Thank you, thank you, thank you! It is so crazy, this bloggers world, I feel so close to some of you and we live across the nation (even world) from each other. I would like to give you an update. I took some of your advice and here is how the situation stands. Asher is not only sleeping through the night but is officially weened. We have been breastfeeding free for about four days now. What we did is, Josh would get up with him in the morning, because that was his two major feedings, which we dwindled down to one for a couple days. Asher got fed right away and Josh did his best to take Asher off my hands if he seemed like he was wanting something from me. His attitude is better now too. I think the weening helped him not to be so clingy, but also we had to instill some discipline measures with the boy, because he was throwing tantrums for no good reason.

With the whole drinking thing. We decided to experiment with an idea that Josh had. We would have Asher drink from a cup and everytime he did, we would hollar and celebrate and get really excited, we did this everytime he drank from the cup. Now the kid is getting exciting about drinking, sometimes he motions for the cup. It's so funny, because sometimes he doesn't even get a chance to let the water reach his mouth before he pulls away with a smile on his face, clapping his hands, waiting for us to celebrate.

About the schedule, yes Asher is on somewhat of a schedule already with his naps and such, but I am working on more.

And about the house. We filled out an application for a beautiful townhome not too far from here. We are waiting to hear back, but they seemed excited about us. Thanks for praying. It's still not final yet, but it looks good and I can't wait to have more room, yipeee!! Maybe some of you bloggers will come visit me when you come to CO to ski!!!

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for great weather! We can go out and be active and enjoy Nature!

What's the weather like in your neck of the woods???

Thankful Thursday

My baby turns one year old TODAY!!!! I so thankful for twelve whole months with this amazing little guy. Everyday has been a joy, I am so thankful that I was able be home with him and witness everything he has ever done, how special is that? I have learned so much over the past year about life, love, myself, family, God. Before he was born, my family had done some research into the geneology to find that my generation of daughters who give birth to first born sons are likely to find some kind of mental tumor that would cause some kind of retardation or even death. One of my cousins, lost her son to it. Another cousin didn't loose her little man but struggles daily with doctors not being able to diagnose his rare condition. I was told that I should get an amniocentisis. After reading about what that was, I couldn't risk the chance of miscarriage or infection to my baby, so I decided to trust God. After all, if something was wrong with my child, there was no way I would ever abort him. The more I gave it to God the more dreams I would have that would reveal all the things I was scared about and show me there was no reason to fear. We decided to name him Asher, it means Happy and Blessed. I found it in the bible. My pregnancy seemed to go well, and he was born March 29th, 2006 after about 7 hours of labor.

From the beginning this child has been nothing but joy. He didn't sleep through the night right away like I had hoped, he was a three hour baby, but I didn't mind too much because he loved to take naps with his mommy. He was always really alert as a baby, paying attention to everything and smiling when he heard his mommy speak or sing to him (which she did often). He was always turning heads, stopping people at the store, attracting the attention of sweet little girls who chanted "baby Asher, baby Asher", disrupting the sermon of Sunday morning during his morning poop (lots of grunting there), and had the older women begging me to babysit. He was special from the beginning! Oh yea, and perfectly healthy. I was so worried about breastfeeding and I shouldn't have been, he was born at 7lbs 4 oz, and gained a pound a week for a couple months off of breastmilk. I would hear comments about how fat he was and feel bad, but now looking back, I realize those comments were because they thought fat babies were ADORABLE! I thank God for all the fat, because that is what gave his body a great start to life and the first time he ever got sick wasn't until around 9 months old.

Okay I will try to end this novel soon... My baby is still turning heads. We stand in line at the post office and he stares each person down until they smile back at him. We walk down pearl street and even the tattooed guys with mohawks soften their spirits and smile at him. It was Asher that attracted our neighbors whom we are now friends with. With my husband and I being in ministry, we know God meant Asher for us, because he is the one that brings people to us which then go on to become great relationships.

My little boy today is very interactive, very talkative (although I don't know what he's saying), and he loves to smile, laugh, hug and sometimes even kiss (especially eskimo kisses). I can't wait for the rest of the world to meet him and confirm to me how amazing God has made him.
Asher thank you for gracing our lives, we look forward to what else you have in store for us, thanks for making parenting easy! (okay now I am going to go cry about my little baby growing up so fast!)

Thankful Thursday

I am sooooo thankful for Spring. I've been told that March is supposed to be the heaviest snowfall for this area, but we've had nothing but beautiful days here! Now I love snow, but I didn't realize how depressed the cold was making me until the sun came out, now I'm just giddy!! Asher loves the outdoors, so we are outside a lot now, hoping it won't end, and I'm hoping now that it's nice I can be more active and loose those extra pounds. We have been taking every opportunity to play in God's creation, more pics coming soon!

Thankful Thursday

I am sorry that I haven't posted until now, (I had some trouble with my computer). Check out Jenny's , Michelle's, and Kim's blog they are on the ball today for Thankful Thursday.
Okay here goes...

I'm Thankful for...
#1 Tough Times. Just recently Asher was pretty sick, it seemed like RSV or Bronchiolitus (Brochitis for babies). He was miserable. A couple days we didn't even do anything, I just held him tight! Now after that he feeling better, his attitude is amazing. He was a happy kid before, but it seems like he has a whole new lease on life or something. Thinking back to other tough times I've gone through, it always seems like that after you go through it. So I'm thankful for the tough times in life, for without them, my life wouldn't have perspective.

#2 for Dinosaur Land at the Mall. I just discovered this place and I love to watch Asher enjoy it and interact with other kids. The other day I said to my hubby, "When Asher get's over this sickness, lets have a celebration day." He said, "Yeah, like take him to Dinosaur Land at the Mall?" "I said, okay (smirking) so he can pick up the same sickness he just got over." Okay, so there may be lots of germs at Dinosaur Land, but I'll just take extra wipes next time :).

#3 The Food Network. I love to cook and the Food Network has helped me improve so much in my cooking. I don't get much opportunity to watch, but just the other day I caught a show and learned an awesome new recipe for Pot Roast and this Berry Soup with Gelato, yumm!

#4 Naptime. Can I get an AMEN? Naptime inspires me. Holy Cow, I cannot even express how grateful I am for naptime. I feel like a real person again, like I can actually do something all by myself. I love it. I also love to nap myself, so it's two dimensional.

#5 My husband's patience when I've lost my mind. I love being a mom, but sometimes I feel like giving up. My husband is always there to take over and pic up the pieces. He is so patient in those times, it makes me want to pinch him to see if he is real. I think that Asher notices as well.

don't forget about Thankful Thursday tomorrow!!

Hey all, please participate tomorrow in Thankful Thursday! It doesn't have be a long post and it doesn't have to have pictures. It would just be cool to see what everyone is thankful for! I will have a linky tomorrow you can all sign so we can see everyones. If no one does it, I'm gonna have to start making up names, he he :) ps. scroll down for examples of thankful thursday.
Julie :)

Thankful Thursday

This week I have so much to be thankful for, but for the sake of blogging I am going to keep it simple and focus on one thing. But It may take a little explaining first. Sometimes I just get sick of the US, there is so much here, too much.

I didn't know this until I left the country with my hubby a couple years back and visited His brother and sister-in law in Papau New Guinea, Aaron and Lori Luse. They are missionaries through New Tribes Institute. Josh and I were considering becoming their partners and working with the tribal people. We didn't feel a peace about it though, but I find myself thinking about it often.

Although they live in the beautiful and biodiverse place on the earth (rainforest), things can be hard. Malaria is a constant threat, things break all the time (with no repair man), there is a lot of "black magic" and that sort of thing being used, there is always the risk of something, some kind of illness with no medical help, things not working right causing no water or no electricity, and the weather can sometimes be fierce with volcanoes, occasional light earthquakes and monsoon season with rough seas (which, they have to cross by boat to get grocery supplies).

So what am I thankful for? I am just thankful for Aaron, Lori, Avalon and Sierra. They are coming back to the states shortly so Lori can have their third child. We miss them greatly and they are true friends of ours!

But I am also thankful for the perspective that they bring. I sit her in my nice safe apartment, perfect temperature, with my internet that is very dependable, with friends and family just a phone call away and I search for houses to rent in the area. I worry about cleanliness, neighborhood, how many bedrooms it has, the size of the kitchen, the size of the yard, etc. And these people live in a hut. A hut only will last two years at the most before they must build another hut. Aaron and Lori have built more of a permanent home, but there is mold constantly and rusting and so many repairs.


All they have is God. That is who they depend on. But here in the US, there are so many other things to rely and depend upon. It is a constant struggle daily to keep my eyes on HIM. That is why I get sick of the US. Although, life in general may be easier, faith seems harder. But in the most remote areas of the earth where daily life is a struggle, faith is so easy, because all other things to depend upon have been stripped away. If you haven't had a chance to get out of the US, I challenge you to consider taking a missions trip out to see and experience what God is doing. Just a side note, we are all missionaries...you don't have to leave the US to have that perspective.

For more pics and stories please visit Aaron and Lori's link on the side of my page.

Thankful Thursday!

We're going to be moving soon, to another place to rent for another year or two. As I look around my dinky apartment and I think of all the things I would love to have in a house and other's who are blessed, I can easily loose sight of what is really important in life.

That's why I'm staring Thankful Thursdays. There is so much we are given daily that we don't take the time notice. God is good, and I don't want to miss it. So as a form of worship I am going to be thankful. If you'd like to join me for Thankful Thursday's drop me a comment. I will then add your blog under my Thankful blog on Thursday's so that other's can view your blessings!

I AM SO THANKFUL FOR......
#1
A husband who loves me and has made a comittment to me and to his purity and to his walk with God. I am grateful for a husband who studies the word and desires to grow in his walk with God because, how on earth can we grow in love for each other, if we aren't growing in love for the author of it?







#2 I am thankful for a husband who desires to be a good daddy, and that Asher's eyes light up everytime daddy walks through the door to come and wrestle with him and make him giggle.

#3 I'm so thankful for a healthy little boy. He loves to eat and breastfeed. He waves his arms in the air while eating solids, and during breastfeeding he always pulls away for a second to stare into my face with a thankful smile on his face (my heart melts). And I think because of his good eating, he's now 11 months old and he's only been sick one week of his whole life!

#4 I'm so thankful for a child who absolutely loves life. He smiles more than not, he plays contently, he looks forward to swimming, bathtime, eating, storytime, momtime and dadtime. I am convinced that if he could speak and you asked him "Asher, what do you love to do?" He would reply "I love this" and it would be whatever he is currently doing, that and his mommy (of course).



#5 For Role Models. Asher has so many. Their names are Kristopher, Josiah, Taylor, Zach and Aiden. He looks up to them and they have grown to accept him as a "big boy" lately, instead of a baby. I love that! You should see his face light up when these boys play with him like he is their peer, it means so much! Thanks boys! (Asher is on the end, around five months old)


#6 I'm thankful for where I'm going and where I've been. Grateful that God leads and when I follow, he blesses beyond what I could have ever imagined.




#7 Thank you God for friends. For people in my life that encourage me, make me feel worthy, pray for me and give me purpose.


#8 I am thankful that the beauty of God surrounds me. I see Him in everything. He paints a picture for me in the sky, He makes the crisp air brush over my face, just when I think I cannot handle life anymore, He brings the most beautiful things across my path, and I cannot deny that He is real and active in my life.