Baby

^ My  Baby!

ba·by

[bey-bee], plural ba·bies, adjective, verb, ba·bied, ba·by·ing.

1. an infant or very young child.

2. a newborn or very young animal.

3. the youngest member of a family, group, etc.

4. a human fetus.

I'm so excited to finally be able to post about all I've been feeling since I took that first home pregnancy test and saw the + sign. I'm not sure I've ever felt so many emotions at once. Excitement, anticipation, joy, happiness, anxiety, fear, wonder, hope but most of all was love. The overwhelming love I had for this microscopic baby inside of me was more than I had ever felt. I have always loved children and can only imagine how much I will feel for my own when it arrives.

After talking it over with the love of my life, we decided to only tell our families the news until my first appointment. They were sworn to secrecy and I know most of them struggled not to tell everyone! After 8 weeks of keeping it in, and thinking my appointment was never going to come, I finally got to see my baby via ultrasound. That moment is hard to forget. The baby was no more than an ounce and the size of a medium shrimp and was wiggling around despite me not feeling any of it. Then came the heartbeat. A heartbeat! It was so steady and strong. All I could do was whisper "That's MY baby!" 

Pride couldn't help but swell up inside of me. That God would let me carry this little child for Him, that He trusts me to raise it for His Names' sake. To love, hold, discipline, guide and nourish. I can only pray that with an open ear and heart skyward I will allow God's hand to guide me as my hand guide's this little one. 

Pregnancy has been relatively smooth. I had the nausea, exhaustion, and headaches but no vomiting(Thank the Lord!) So food is still enjoyable for me, though at night I still get nauseous with "Morning" sickness, it is bearable and just means it's bedtime. Sleep has it's ups and downs, sometimes I only wake up a few times a night and others I'm tossing and turning. My stomach is finally starting to show at 14 1/2 weeks and I can't wait for my appointment next month to find out if we're having a cute little girl or a handsome little boy! My excitement and anticipation is definitely growing.

Thank you all for your congratulations and well wishes so far, the love of my life and I can't wait to welcome this little one to the world and I can't wait to document twinkles in time of the 3 of us (and my furbaby Collar!) as we all learn what it means to raise a baby.

Thanks for reading! 

 

Devastation

dev·as·ta·tion

[dev-uh-stey-shuh-n] noun

1. the act of devastating; destruction.

2. devastated state; desolation.

 

  EF5 Ranking - The most dangerous

Over 200 miles per hour wind speed

1.3 Miles wide at peak

40 minutes on the ground

17 miles traveled

16 minute warning time to take cover

237 injuries

24 deaths

 

These are just some of the statistics of what descended on May 20th, 2013. I watched live footage of this monster traveling through areas I have traveled plenty of times. I listened as the horrified and heavyhearted newscaster called out what street it was crossing over. My panic rising and my heart pounding, I had google maps pulled up to track it's progress should it come our way. With pets and my husband in our one bedroom apartment on the second floor of a three story complex I wasn't too confident in feeling safe with no tornado shelter. I listened with a heavy heart as the tornado passed near our favorite movie theater, the Moore Warren theater. We were just at the theater this past Saturday to see Star Trek. 

 

 

 

 The tornado then went just north of the theater where the Moore Medical Center resides. I was just at the Moore Medical Center on May 16th, getting my first Ultrasound and seeing my little love inside of me. 

 

 

 

The tornado was on a northeast - east bound track straight for the Tinker Air Force Base. Not only does my husband work there, but most of all of my friends were there now, huddled in tornado shelters at their home. I prayed and prayed, 

 

"Lord please do not let it hit the base, please turn it away!"

 

and in all of His great glory the base was not hit. The tornado stopped it's northbound track and continued straight east where a few long minutes afterward it dissipated. It's difficult to look at the pictures of something you are so used to and suddenly it's changed radically. 

 

It's even more difficult to think had this storm dropped this tornado just 15 miles more to the north, I might not be here writing this. (We live at the pink dot on the map below, the tornado path is also shown)

  

As I see the flashes of lightning, hear the loud thunder and watch the rain fall outside right now, I'm reminded that I am in the heart of tornado alley. I have to be prepared for the worst, but as of right now I can raise my hands in praise that I have a roof over my head, all of my belongings, my family and my friends are safe. Never forget life is short and we don't know when it's our time to go. I'm just blessed to know that when I do go, the loving open arms of my Savior are there to say "Welcome Home." 

 

Here are two pictures of the storm that I got to view.

Rain is coming down hard.

 

  Rain turned to hail, about the size of a quarter, if not slightly larger.

 

I will always be fascinated with weather. It's beautiful, mysterious, powerful and untamed. We try our best to understand it but will always constantly be learning about it and will be amazed by it but we know that it is coming. I guess in a way the weather reminds me of my Lord. Something I will always have a reverend fear of but always love, never get bored pursuing, and know is coming. Amen!

 

 

Please take a moment to pray for all those affected by the May 20th, 2013 tornado. Many lost all they had, and some lost even more, family members.

 

Thanks for reading. God bless. 

Mrs.

Mrs.

[mis-iz, miz-iz] plural Mmes. [mey-dahm, -dam]  

  1. a title of respect prefixed to the name of a married woman

When I think of Mrs. I always picture someone older than me who is very well put together and is essentially Wonder Woman. A married woman can do whatever needs to be done whether it be at her job, home, supermarket or outer space. Then I take a step back and it hits me all over again. I AM a Mrs. Wow, I am actually coming up on my second anniversary and everything I pictured growing up of a Mrs. is shattered because I certainly can't get everything done that needs to be done from here to the moon, and that's okay. 

I do what I can and what I can't I am blessed to have my wonderful husband help me with or my amazing group of friends. A married woman isn't necessarily Wonder Woman but a woman who does her best and gives her all for God, her husband and her children (if she has them) because when you say I Do, you are saying I sign myself over to dying to self and doing all I can for the sake of someone other than myself. 

Every little girl dreams of getting married to Prince Charming and married life being a bowl of chocolates(Chocolate is better than cherries. Period.), and that's not to say it is because at times there is no life quite like the bliss of being in love completely and enjoying the married life. When rough patches come though I feel like too many married women see that Happily Ever After fading into the darkness never to return and they get discouraged. Sometimes they even give up. Being a Mrs. wasn't what they had envisioned. 

It's not what happened to Cinderella at the end of the movie...

  

I'm so thankful for everything that has happened in my life. All of it, the good the bad and the ugly. Without it I wouldn't be who I am today and that really is the truth. I have seen the hard times marriage can bring even before I met the love of my life. I was able to go to college in New York while dating my handsome husband-to-be and while leaving him behind in Georgia was one of the hardest decisions I made it was definitely one of the best. My teacher up there(Pastor Tony!!) would be in the middle of teaching on a verse and would just start trailing off about marriage randomly! I learned so much from these random marriage rabbit trails that had I not trusted God to pull me half way across the United states to go to this college, life would not be as wonderful as it is now because I would be without all the knowledge that I learned up there. I didn't know it then, but it's all clear to me now God makes a way to prepare us for our future when we don't even know what our future is if we trust in Him to lead the way.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, if you're a Mrs. you know the highest ups and lowest downs of being a married woman and if you don't know them yet, (I know I don't!) then you will. 

When the highest ups come, get on your knees and thank God for the man He blessed you with.

When the lowest downs come, get on your knees and thank God for the man He blessed you with.

Never forget you said I do and God was watching you commit your all to this one man! Trials in marriage come but with God you CAN be that Wonder Woman and you CAN overcome them and you WILL love the love of your life even more after it's passed.

I can't picture myself with any other man than the one I said I do to.

If you're not a Mrs. yet, hold out for the Mr. God has picked for you it is so, so worth it.

If you're a Mr., love your Mrs. in the highest ups and the lowest downs.

If you're not a Mr. yet, hold out for the Mrs. God has hand picked for you. She's worth it.

If you don't believe in God then you've probably not liked anything I've posted so far because well, God is apart of my life and He's not going anywhere. Amen.

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;

Praise Him, all creatures here below;

Praise Him above, ye heav’nly host; 

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost! 

Praise God the Father who’s the source;
Praise God the Son who is the course;

Praise God the Spirit who’s the flow;

Praise God, our portion here below!

and Amen.

Thanks for reading. 

Enhancing

en·hance

[en-hans, -hahns]

verb (used with object), en·hanced, en·hanc·ing.

1. to raise to a higher degree; intensify; magnify

2. to raise the value or price of

 

So as most of you have come to discover, I love Photography. Any chance to snap a photo of a twinkle in time I try my best to do just that. So as I was organizing all of my photo albums today I ended up opening one with my photo shop. Curiously I started playing around with all the unknown buttons in my photo shop to see if I couldn't discover something I could use for future photos I take and sure enough I've found quite a few fun settings.

      original on left, enhanced on right.

 

Some of the first ones I've done, but I can't wait to discover more settings and play around with past and future photos! Courtesy to my wonderful friends for letting me take pictures of their beautiful children on numerous play date occasions. I know of a few good friends whom I will have to meet up with soon for some updated pictures of their precious little ones!

With Malen's Baby Shower just around the corner I can't wait to take pictures of the occasion and make more twinkles in time with everyone. (:

 

If you have a camera I encourage you to use it often if you aren't already. Life is so precious and pictures are a great way to remember something dear to you. 

Value

val·ue

[val-yoo] Show IPA noun, verb, val·ued, val·u·able noun

1. relative worth, merit, or importance

2. monetary or material worth, as in commerce or trade

3. the worth of something in terms of the amount of other things for which it can be exchanged or in terms of some medium of exchange.
 

When you think of the word Value, money is something that comes to mind. Mainly because money is valuable. but today I'm going to talk about what is really valuable.

Sure, money is valuable to some extent. It's hard to live without it, but when I think of valuable I think of my relationship with God and all He has done for me. I would not be where I am or who I am today without His constant hand gently guiding me and sometimes nudging me(I have had my stubborn moments!) in the proper direction. I still have a long way to go to be who He has made me to be, but every step towards the right direction is a valuable step indeed.

Yesterday(My blog posts seem to be a day behind as of late, sorry!) I got to bake homemade blueberry muffins and head over to my beautiful friend Malen's house. This woman has a precious baby girl coming soon, but we hope not too soon, and since she goes above and beyond to take care of her cutie pie son Liam and her husband she has overdone it some. Per Doctor's orders she's been put on bed rest! So Caroline, Eleanora and I love any opportunity to bring food and hang out with friends so we suited up and headed over for a day of fun and getting Malen to relax some. I (of course) got to take pictures of the little ones as they played with a water table, trampoline and little pool. I must say Liam, Ryan and Katherine are the most adorable little people ever!

Don't you agree? (:

We all had a great time with Malen as we always do! I think something that is truly valuable is that which can not be priced or measured. Friends, family, anything you can think of that you just can't put a price tag on, that is what is truly worth having. Twinkles in time come and go, but as long as you have people in your life who will support you, pray for you, love you and laugh with you that makes all the difference in the value of life itself and how you see things. 

Always live, laugh, love and create new twinkles in time with who and what is truly valuable.

Thanks for reading. (: