0 Daddy's Girls

Happy Fall Y'all!

Christen, Raleigh, Adeline & Maralee

October 2010

5 months

Boy, am I LOVING this weather!!!!  We have been outside so much this past week enjoying the great outdoors.  The other day I was talking to my mom about us not having been on a vacation this year and she reminded me how much fun we have just being outside.  It is so true.  Raleigh and I love going on walks and playing outside with our family.  The outdoors is God's gift for us to enjoy and it is FREE FUN which is great for us!  Lately, we have been feeling guilty about not giving the puppies as much attention as they used to get.  Before the girls arrived, they were really like our children.  Obi and Lu Lu have adjusted great to our babies but they still need to get their exercise and affection so they don't wreck the house.  Both of their birthdays are in the month of October so we decided to take them to a local park (it is more like a field) to let them run around on Saturday.  I think they enjoyed it because they were pooped the rest of the afternoon!

Raleigh loves his little girls so much.  While we are at the park, he was cutting up with them the entire time.

He loves to fly them around like Super Man (or woman in their case?!) 

 

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's Miss ADELINE!!!!!

And teach them to walk (not yet, ha ha).......

Mar-Bear loves to stomp her feet!

And let Obi give them piggy back rides....

Daddy sure does love his little girls!

Raleigh with Adeline & Maralee

The weekends are such a great time for Raleigh to spend with the girls.  I have really been praying for my husband lately.  He just does so much for our family.  He is the head of the household and has chosen to support us financially so I can stay home with the girls.  It is so hard for him to get up and ready in the mornings when the girls are sleeping so peacefully.  Of course, he loves his job but being a new father is such a special time for him right now.  He is so good with the girls.  We are just getting up once now through the night (thank you, Jesus!!!) but it helps me so much to have him feed one girl while I feed the other for those late-nighters.  I know being sleep deprived can be really tough when you work outside the home all day so I am just praying for him to have his usual energy and stamina as he digs into his work weeks.

Last week was a pretty good week.  Both girls have discovered their hands but Adeline has been sucking on her fingers like crazy!  It is good for self-soothing but I'm afraid I have two thumb suckers  :)  I think they are getting close to needing a teething ring, which I think we are receiving this month at the pediatrician.  Speaking of our doctor, we went on Friday for a weight check and the girls are both 8.3 pounds!!!!!  I can really tell that they are growing.  It is getting harder to pick them up one-handed and carry them at the same time.  Also, the time in between feeds is getting a tad longer and they are both drinking around 5 ounces each time.  Sometimes I remember how long it would take us to just finish one ounce and it makes me so proud of my girls.  We haven't seen our NICU family since we roomed-in so last week we visited the day and night shift nurses.  It was SO GOOD to see everyone!  They all commented on how big the girls had gotten and Miss Kirby and Pamela got to love on the girls for over an hour!!!  They joked that they could babysit them in an isolate if we wanted.  Hmmm..........

Last week I also visited some local Mother's Morning Out programs. I just want them to go one day a week for development and socialization.  They won't start until the next school year, but the lists begin in January.  It is so crazy to me how we have to sign-up so early and we only get in if spots are available.  I found three programs that I really like so I hope they can get in at least one of them. 

All in all, we are loving us some fall!  My posts might be a little more sporadic this month because I am working away at their Christening gowns.  I am trying to finish them by the end of October so I might be dipping into my blogging time to get them finished.  Pictures will come, promise!

Hope everyone has a blessed day!!!!!

Till next time, let your light shine!

Blessings, christen

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2 Monthly Memory Verse: October

Happy Fall Y'all!

Below are the two verses that we are going to memorize this month.  Enjoy!

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.  And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ 

Ephesians 3:16-18

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything 

James 1:2-4

Till next time, let your light shine!

Blessings, christen

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0 How to Make a Burp Cloth: Christen's Crafts

Burp cloths are a great gift to make for a baby shower.  Moms always need plenty of burp cloths and you can design one for any occasion.  Recently, we threw a baby shower for a dear friend of mine that is having a baby girl but is not sharing her name until she is born.  So, I decided to do a lamb themed burp cloth that would be great for church.

To get started, you will need:

• Sewing Machine (preferably one that has embroidery capabilities for the lamb)
• One 18 inch piece of fabric for the front
• I suggest a fabric that can absorb liquid easily. For this burp cloth, I found a very soft white felt
• One 18 inch piece of fabric for the back 
• I used Minky Dot but you can choose whatever...have fun with this selection!
• 12 inches of wide ribbon
• 12 inches of coordinating pom pom ribbon
• Matching Polyester thread
• Sticky Paper (tear away) Stabilizer
• Puffy Foam or clear water soluble Topper 
• Always match puffy foam to thread color for your embroidery
• Scissors, pins

To begin, cut out both pieces of your burp cloth fabric.  My fabric is 18 inches long and 11 inches wide.  It is important that both sides of your fabrics line up with one another.  If your fabric needs to be ironed, go ahead and press it before you begin sewing.

Once the fabric has been cut out, it is time to put the ribbon in place. The bottom of the ribbon should be two inches above the bottom of the burp cloth. Pin your ribbon in place and cut the ends so they are aligned with the sides of your burp cloth. Next, it is time to place the center of your embroidery.  I chose for my lamb to be below the center of the cloth so it can be seen while the cloth is on Mom's shoulder.  The lamb is placed two inches up from the top of the ribbon. To find the center of the lamb, I measured the height of the lamb and divided it in half.  Once the center is found, place a sticky dot or a put a dot with a pen in place.

 

After the center of your design has been found, line it up in the center of your hoop.  The sticky paper works great because you can hoop it and then just stick your fabric on top of it without hooping the fabric.  Once this is in place, it is time to sew your embroidery.  Before pressing start, make sure your needle is in proper place and your puffy foam is on top of your fabric.  The puffy foam needs to match the color of your thread because once your machine starts to stitch, it will cover up your puffy foam.  Once the design is complete, it will have a three dimensional look.  I really like the way the puffy foam adds an additional element that makes the project look very professional.

Once you have completed your embroidery, it is time to switch to your sewing foot on your machine.  Sew a straight line border all around your ribbon to secure it in place.  Once your ribbon is secured, pin your pom pom ribbon in the center of your thick ribbon.  Then, sew a straight stitch through the center of your pom pom ribbon to secure it to the thick ribbon.

 
To finish the project, it is time to attach the back side of the burp cloth to the front. The pretty side of both fabrics should be facing out when you pin them together.  After putting your pins in place, trim off any edges that are not lined up properly.  It is very important to have a clean, straight edge before sewing the pieces together.   I chose a zig-zag line that secured my edges but it left them looking slightly frayed.  This edge will stay in place when washed and I really like the finished look of the edges.

 

This project  is very simple and lots of fun.  Be creative and choose a design that fits the personality of the new parents.  Giving a home-made gift is a great way to show how excited you are about your friends' new addition!

If you have any questions or photos from burp cloths that you make, please send them to christen@theuncontainabletruth.com

Till next time, let your light shine!

Blessings, christen

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0 Hannah's Prayer

First Samuel tells the story of a woman named Hannah that desperately wanted to bear a child.  The Lord had closed her womb and she became very bitter and wept much while praying to the Lord.  She made a vow, saying, "O Lord Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant's misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head" (1 Samuel 1:11).  Soon, Hannah bore a child and named him Samuel, "because she asked the Lord for him" (1 Samuel 1:20).   After she had weaned Samuel, she took him to Eli the priest saying, "I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him" (1 Samuel 1:27).

Many women that we are surrounded by pray Hannah's prayer.  Most of the time, when a husband and wife make the decision to start adding on to their family, they want it to happen immediately.  The couple starts to pay attention to friends that have babies and ask other friends when they are going to start trying to conceive.  While shopping, the wife drifts to the baby aisle and gently tugs at little booties as she walks by.  Everywhere the couple turns they see babies and they long to have their own little bundle of joy.  As months close, feelings of anxiousness and uncertainty surface while waiting to see the results from their home pregnancy test.  When the results are negative, the anxiousness is replaced with a sad lump that can't be fixed by the husband. Like Hannah in the beginning of the story, it is easy to become bitter when we don't get what we so desperately want. *According to scripture, prayers can remain unanswered because:
1. Sin in the life of the person praying
2. Lack of faith
3. Praying from impure motives
4. Not praying according to God's will

We are all sinners.  Ministers, football coaches, non-profit CEO's; we come in all shapes and sizes but we all share a common identity as sinners.  But, some enjoy sin more than others and make decisions based on their own selfish desires.  We live for ourselves and not for others.  We choose to ignore that nagging voice in our head that says we shouldn't do what we are doing.  Psalm 66:18 says, "If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened."  God wants us to repent our sins and ask for forgiveness.  He wants us to seek Him first in all the things that we do.  The more intimate our relationship becomes with Christ, the better choices we make as to how we live our lives.

But, what if we believe in Jesus and still no answer?  Well, we might want to ask ourselves how much we truly have faith in Jesus.  Do we make our own decisions in life or do we trust in Him?  Do we pray just for the big stuff but handle our day-to-day activities all on our own?  God wants us to completely give over our reign of control and have faith in His direction for our lives. "But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.  That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord" (James 1:6-7).  God desires for us to be faithful in our beliefs and not doubt His ways.

After examining our first two reasons for unanswered prayer, we might need to think about our motives for the prayer that we are seeking.  Do you want to have a baby because your heart longs to raise up a child of faith or do you want to have a baby because your husband is getting bored with you and you think this is a way to make him stay instead of stray?  Friends, our motives matter to God.  There is no getting around it.  James 4:3 tells us that when we ask and don't receive it is because we are asking with wrong motives.  We want our prayer to be answered for our own pleasures, not for God's glory.

Finally, we need to be praying according to God's will. "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us" (1 John 5:14).  Some might ask, "Well, how do I know if this is God's will for my life?"  Prayer is a two way street.  It shouldn't just be us doing the talking; we also have to learn to listen.  When we shut out everything around us and sit still in the presence of God, we become changed.  Our hearts feel peace.  Our worries are swept away.  Our shoulders no longer feel so heavy and tired.  The Holy Spirit comes inside us and washes us clean.  When praying from a standpoint of God's will, you realize that He is in control and everything will happen according to His plan.  You let go of your own desires and trust Him with your life.  You realize that even if your prayer isn't answered, God still loves you and you still love God. 

**God answers some prayers immediately, some eventually, and some only in eternity.  It is easy to become frustrated in our prayer life when we meet all of the requirements and still don't receive an answer to our prayer.  We must hold on to the truth of God being a sovereign God.  Have you ever noticed that in the word sovereign, the ending is reign?  That is exactly what sovereign means.  God is the King of Kings and He reigns over us. Submitting to God is allowing Him to have supreme authority over our lives.  For wives that continue to have Hannah's prayer unanswered, put your hope in the Lord's supreme power and path for your life. We must be content in knowing that if we have repented our sins, live our lives in faith, pray from pure motives, and ask according to God's will that He will show us His sovereign ways in due time.

Till next time, let your light shine!

Blessings, christen

*The Daily Walk Bible. 1 Samuel 1-3.**The Upper Room. May-June 2010, pg. 38.

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2 5 Months Old

Y'all, Adeline and Maralee are five months old!  Wow, has time flown or what?!

I love these outfits!  

Adeline and Maralee

5 months

Mom and I took the girls to the eye doctor and their eyes are really looking good.  They are far-sighted (which is good for babies) and don't need glasses.  Also, they are not in need of laser surgery for their retinas.  I ran into another NICU mom at the eye doctor and her little boy had to have the laser surgery.  She said he was doing great but he had to be re-released to the NICU for four nights to recover.  As much as we love our NICU staff, she told me that the hardest part of the surgery was him being back in the NICU after being home with her.  I had such empathy for her and am so thankful that he is once again home with his family!

Maralee was cracking up at her daddy!

Last week was lots of fun.  They are getting so animated and it is fun making faces and sounds back at them.  Sometimes I just stop and realize that I am a mom.  I love it.  The other night, Adeline was lying on the sofa next to me and I put my hand on her back to feel her breathe.  Just feeling the rhythm of her chest made my heart swell with love.  These girls are so precious and I just can't get enough of them.  On Friday, we went for a stroller walk and the weather was so nice afterward that I laid a blanket in the front yard for us to get some tummy time.  Look how good they did!

 Adeline and Maralee getting some tummy time

 Miss Adeline holding her head up!

 My little cutie, Maralee

Adeline watching Maralee hold her head up

I tell Raleigh thank you all the time for letting me stay at home with them.  It is so hard for him to get up and go to work some days but he does it so we can make memories with our girls.  This weekend it was just the four of us (six counting the pups) and we had the best time doing nothing together.  Friday night we grilled yummy steaks and he let me watch The Last Song.  It was okay, but The Notebook and A Walk to Remember are still my favorite Nicholas Sparks books turned into movies.

Saturday we did a little car shopping and I think we are going to get a van.  I can't believe I am saying that but it really has everything that we want in a new vehicle.  If anybody wants a cute Volvo, let us know!!!  :)
After we did that, we sat on the couch and watched football for the afternoon.  It was really nice not having a million things to do.  Sunday was our first time going to our church as a family.  The night before, we got our game plan together on how we would get everyone dressed and ready for church.  As soon as we opened the door to leave for church, it started to rain.  Raleigh was a trooper taking each of his girls to the car under the umbrella.  We made it to church only five minutes late.  Once we got there, we sat in the back so we could sneak out if we had to.  Adeline slept the whole time and Maralee was awake but just looking around.  Once church was over we got to show them off a little and we headed home.  The rest of the afternoon it rained so I worked on their Christening gowns while listening to Norah Jones.  It was rather relaxing, I must say.

First Family Church Service at St. James

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Christen, Adeline, Maralee, Raleigh

(the lens was foggy and it made the girls look like little angels!)

Friends, I am just trying to soak up every moment that I can with these sweet potatoes!  They are already getting so big and we will go for a weight check this week to see how much they have gained.  I just thank God for providing such goodness for our family!  This month, our church is memorizing Psalm 23 and the last part of this Psalm is my favorite.  I have it written on a piece of paper that I keep at my vanity and it gives me such hope each morning.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever

-Psalm 23

Till next time, let your light shine!

Blessings, christen

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0 Reflections of Motherhood

Hey friends,

A sweet momma shared this video with me. After you watch it, scroll down to see my own reflections of motherhood. Enjoy!

My Reflections of Motherhood:

Let Go of Control

Take it One Day at a Time

Till next time, let your light shine!

Blessings, christen

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13 New Wheels

So, Raleigh and I have been doing some car shopping.  Before we had the girls, we thought we would have enough room for our new additions in the two cars we currently own.  Well, after a couple of trips to Dothan, we have soon realized that we are crammed pretty tight in our "big" car.  I try my hardest to pack light, but between two adults, two babies, and two dogs we are becoming a very close family on our car rides home!   When we travel on Raleigh's truck, I have to adjust my seat to the upright position so the car seat can lock into place.  Another thing that we have come to realize is the double stroller barely fits in my car.  Now that we have permission to go around town, I am going to have to have the stroller when I am by myself.  Our cars are great, but they just don't have enough space.

Currently, I drive a Volvo S-40.

I LOVE my car.  It is cute, it drives great, and I feel safe.  To me, the type of car a person drives speaks of their personality.  I love my car so much because I feel like it is me in a car version :)  But, now that I am a mother of two, does it still fit my personality?  While I adore scooting around town in my bubbly little car, I have to realize that my life does not just revolve around my needs anymore.  Now, I need to cart around strollers, car seats, and diaper bags when I go places (and those are just the necessities).  As the girls get older, they are going to need more space for their legs and luggage.  Also, what if we have more kids?  I certainly can't fit three in the car that I drive right now.  Hence, the search for a new car.  Here is what we have been looking at so far:

Option 1: You got it, the Station Wagon. Still in the Volvo family, it has more room in the back seat and the trunk.  While this is still a car (big plus for me) we aren't sure if it has enough space for us when we travel with the dogs and long vacations.

Option 2:  An SUV that has a third row seat.  Right now, the Toyota Sequoia is my favorite SUV.  I really liked the way it drove and I felt like it had a lot of storage once the third row was taken out.  The downside of this car to us is the trunk space with the third row in place.  It is tiny and there is no way we could travel with our dogs.  Also, we really want bucket seats and those are much harder to come by in this car.  Some of the Sequoia's that we have found have bucket seats with a center console that can be taken out so that is the option that we would prefer to purchase.  This car seems great for a family of four but what if we want to have more kids?  Do we purchase this type of car now and then re-access our needs if we have a larger family?  Decisions, decisions!

Option 3:  I can't believe I am considering this but option three is a VAN.  When did I become so old?!?  Is it so uncool to be under thirty and driving a van?????  We all know the stereotype of a van driver is "soccer mom."  When I was younger and envisioning myself as a mom, I totally saw me being just that; a soccer mom.  I want to drive the girls to their sport games (and I would indeed love for them to play soccer!), school, and other extracurricular activities.  But, now that I am a mom, I feel like the van is totally ripping away at my youth.  I mean, a van?  REALLY?????  As crazy as this sounds though; a van really has everything that I want in our new car.  It has bucket seats, a third row, really nice trunk space, and it has all of these cool kid gadgets like DVD players and tucked away storage.  The van that I really like is the Volkswagen Routan but it is still a really new van on the market. Does anyone out there drive a Routan?  Is it dependable or require a lot of maintenance?

Our other option is the Toyota Sienna.

I mean, a van really does make sense for a family.  But, a van?????

Friends, we need some advice!  If you have a family, what type of car do you drive?  What are your likes/dislikes?  For my friends without babies, would you totally make fun of me for driving a van????? :)  Leave us a comment with your thoughts.

Till next time, let your light shine!

Blessings, christen

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