a bit here and there of LIFE..

Things happening with us lately in no particular order

- we decided on a name!! Zoey, which means eternal life. :) how fitting- a blessing of life, god's gift.
- Caleb learned to say please or "pees" as he says it.
- We are HOPING to find a house, but not sure how long that will take, not sure if we are ready but we need something soon.. not sure what God wants for us.
- I did a painting recently for the first time in a loooonnng time, i still have a few more things to do to it if i get the time... I painted it plain air off the front porch, with my pop up antique easel i love, which was nice. (here it is below)

- my grandma was put in the hospital which really scared us- she fell down and hit her head, back and foot. she is home now and doing okay i think but needs prayers to heal and get her Blood pressure normal.

its a girl

We are excited to be having a baby girl!
I picked out a few things we'll need, just for fun. We are definitely not asking for anything, and know we will have everything we need for her, God always provides. But it was neat to browse and see what kind of little girl things they have. I did find a cute little bath for her that is inexpensive that we may get and a few other things.. i sort of just wanted to have a running list of the things i would like to find, used or new.

http://www.target.com/registry/baby/GUO5XCQ2K7KF

feel free to take a look.. girl things are so cute!

baby talk, etc.

Tuesday we get an ultrasound and they should be able to tell if we have a boy or a girl! :)
I am very excited!!

I would post pics of what i look like but honestly I'm not showing that much yet, and it would be difficult to get a good pic unless I asked toby to do it, and he is always exhausted when he gets home.

Life gets a little overwhelming, but God reminded me of Romans 8 last night, and it helped tremendously to change my focus. I also wish I had close friends around me to share in this journey of life that gets difficult at times... This is not a statement of self-pity, and I am extremely blessed that I have a wonderful husband and son, but sometimes i would like to hang out and talk with other women who are going through similar things that could relate to me. Thursdays the moms group from church has events but i haven't been able to go to one yet, I am hoping i get to tomorrow. I usually ship out books in the mornings when they have it.

An update sort of...

Lately life has been busy busy.. lots of working little rest,
even when we rest our minds are flooded with thoughts.
But the Lord is good.
We are enjoying the goodness of his grace and gifts, but we must not forget that often his gifts are trials.
I don't think anyone likes to hear that or enjoys trials,
but we are called to enJOY them.
Are commanded to be joyous through trials because it produces endurance and strong faith.
Lord knows my faith needs growing!

_ our garden has done well, the bugs were not too terrible, we had lots of squash & cucumbers and now are getting tomatoes. our cantaloupe didn't do well at all though, which we heard it was hard to grow here.
- Our boy is learning more and more of course and getting into everything- his new thing is hiding in the kitchen cabinet saying dadadadada wanting him to come peekaboo him, and he loves figuring out sounds and movements together- his veggietales book is his favorite with "a talking bird that doesn't quit" and he mimics a bird with his hand and makes a bird noise :)
- We are saving for the future, sweat and brow, takes time for sure!
- Excited about baby 2, trusting the Lord no matter what others think or say
- looking forward to soon being able to have more time together & hoping toby can get more rest
- Hoping the new church we're going to will help us grow spiritually and be able to make new friends

How are you doing? If anyone is reading? :-O
I hope the Lord is working in your life in great ways

great blog post to read about children

find it here:

http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/motherhood-is-a-calling-and-where-your-children-rank#.Th9Zkl5a5kq.facebook

http://www.naturalnews.com/032905_state_officials_child_health.html

my little bit of couponing experience...

first day trial- bought what harris teeter calls 65 dollars worth for 40.
Second day trial- went on southern savers and printed my list from their deals- esp. the acorn deals- (ones a dollar or under, sometimes free.) and .. got 65 worth for 24 dollars!

Improvement!

So.. what i've learned about using coupons and a few suggestions from my experience:

- buy only what you will use of course
- you use the store deal or sale, then coupons too

will post more later as i learn.. i know this isn't much info. but today is pretty busy to boot