Not Me! Monday......#23 - Stellan Style

As we are all aware, Not Me! Monday was started by MckMama. "I created Not Me! Monday for the purpose of confessing our shortcomings and imperfections to each other since, after all, we are all only human!" (MckMama's words) Every Monday, you can find more "Not Me! Monday" at her site. However, this week, in honor of her and Baby Stellan, we're doing "Not Me! Monday - Stellan Style!"

This week, it's our chance to HONOR MckMama and Stellan with our Not Me! Mondays. Here goes:


This week when I woke up Monday morning & logged onto Facebook and saw my friends status as "Pray for baby Stellan" I did not gasp, immediately start crying & head straight to MckMama's blog.

As the week progressed I did not check MckMama's blog every hour on the hour just to see if there were any updates to Stellan's status.

And when I found out the Stellan name gallery was resurrected I did not tell my husband I wished there was a way we could make a cool Stellan picture. Thus, resulting in my wonderful husband creating the Costco name badge.

And I did not post a picture on my blog because I was so very proud of our Stellan name badge.

And I did not immediately rush to take a photo and send to MckMama. And then begin checking my email hourly as well to see if she had gotten the picture & responded to our idea. And when she did respond she was more than excited to receive the name badge and I quote "is it crazy that i got goosebumps from seeing stellan's costco id badge. WHAT A FAB idea!! i STILL have goosebumps. and a huge smile. wow. love it. thanks to your husband!!!!!

And I did not then text all my friends telling them that MckMama had loved the Costco name badge.

I HAVE held my own 5month old baby this week extra close, given her many extra kisses, many extra "I love you's" and cherished her more this week than ever.

I HAVE shed many, many, many tears this week over Stellan.

I HAVE told my husband I love this little boy as if he's my own over a hundred times.

I HAVE prayed so much this week for a baby I have never met. And I do have to admit prayed more for him than anyone else in my life!!

I HAVE had the BEST prayer times this week. Why is that Baby Stellan has re-kindled that prayer flame inside of me? Causing me to pray not only for him but this country, my family and friends more than I have in a LOOOOONG time.
And if God should choose to take this little boy home I know that I will be very sad, hurt, frustrated & that a small part of my heart will be gone as well.

Stellan you have captured my heart. You have caused me to WANT to pray again. You in your small little way have ignited something in me again that I thought had been lost. And if that is what you were put here on this earth & blogging world to do then you have accomplished your goal. Well done my good & faithful servant, well done!

Stellan name gallery - post #2

Here is Team D's picture of Stellan's name - we sent it to MckMama for the gallery.

Stellan name gallery

Bill and I have been praying so much this week for Baby Stellan. I have become obsessed with checking MckMama's twitter page to get updates. Praying endlessly through out the day has become my passion this week.

Baby Stellan has ignited something in me again....more on another post later.

But I am excited to say that Bill came up with a name entry for Stellan's name gallery. We will post it tonight....stay tuned.

Aching Heart

My heart is aching. Aching for baby Stellan & MckMama. Aching for baby V, Baby Jonah, baby Kayleigh.

The last few days I have found myself near tears at any given moment. I know that the Lord is in control but I am still human with real emotions & anxiety. And somehow I think the Lord understands what I am feeling.

I feel as if I know all these sweet babies. Like they are my own. I find myself thinking of them hourly & uttering little prayers to heaven on their behalf.

But I also feel a little angry & do not understand how/why each of these little ones that God created has to go through such an ordeal so young. I want them each to grow up to run, jump, blow bubbles, do all that other children get to do.

And yet at the same time I feel blessed to have 2 healthy little girls that I love & cherish with all my heart. I find myself wondering if I could be as strong as these mothers if it were my child? Could I still give God the glory? Could I be strong & push through? I honestly don't know. Bill says "Babe, you are the strongest person I know and you would be able to do it" I will trust my husband & the faith he has in me.

Lord, please hear my aching heart. Please, give each of these families your strength & peace. Please touch each of these babies little bodies. Give them the healing they need, be with their doctors/nurses. Lord, I know that you are in control & though I do not understand I will remain dependent on you for strength.

Please Pray......

Please pray for Baby Stellan. He is in the hospital and is having heart issues. This little boy is a miracle and has come so far. Please pray that he makes it through and is healed again.

Lord, please bring peace to MckMama and Prince Charming. Please be with them during this ordeal. Please touch little Stellan's body. Give the doctors wisdom in treating him and please let his heart respond to the treatments.

Itchful of Thanks!

So yesterday morning at 4am when I got up to feed Addie I noticed that I had hives starting. I was very itchy! I took some allergy meds, fed Addie & went back to bed. When I got up they were still there. But I had to push through as it was MOPS Tuesday, my day to bring food (yet again), and I cannot take any benedryl or allergy meds during the day because they make me SUPER sleepy. Sleepy = not good with 2 little girls.

When I got home from MOPS I fed the girls & put them down for naps. I tried to sleep a bit but not so much luck. I got up & checked my now VERY itchy body & assessed the damage. They were getting very bad & starting to cover not so fun areas....like my left eye, my chest, the palms of my hands etc...You get my drift. I decide I have to call Bill and fill him in on my itchy predicament.

I ask him to hurry home & could he pick me up some benedryl. Well he did more than that!!!

Not only did he come home EARLY (he sensed my urgency & could tell it was bad by just my voice) and bring me the benedryl I asked for he also brought me roses & a bag of dark chocolate candies. (not so good for me - since I lost 6lbs in the week -n-half) But it sure brought a smile to my very puffy & itchy face.

I love you Bill!!!! I am a very Thankful & Blessed wife.

Not Me! Monday......#22

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

Last week I DID NOT post a Not Me! Monday and geeez louise did I get grief about it from my friends & from my husband. I didn't know that people actually read my blog - I guess I would know that if they commented once in awhile ;o)

This week in attempt to keep up with my Not Me Monday mistakes/blunders I DID NOT write them on a sticky note,and stick it to the cupboard by the phone in our kitchen where I'd be able to write them down as they occurred. Nope now why would I have to do that. ( couldn't possibly be because when I sit down to write this post each week I am racking my brain to remember all of my blunders)

In the last week I DID NOT drive up to the front of our local grocery store, roll down my window & call over the little girl scout so I could buy a single box of thin mints. Why would I ever be soooo lazy as to "drive by" an order of girl scout cookies.

When I found Ellia in the laundry room playing in the dog water with a dirty wash cloth I DID NOT then decide to mop the floor with the same dog water. I mean who would do that?

And on that same day I DID NOT start a load of laundry only to discover when it finished that the little laundry soap dispenser, full of soap was still on the dryer. Which resulted in having to wash that same load again - this time with actual soap.

While vacumming this week I DID NOT just vacume around the toys in the bonus room cause I was too lazy & tired to pick them up.

Park Day

Mama's little helper

This week Ellia was a big helper around the house. Check out her adventures.

She decided to mop the laundry room floor with....the DOG water!!



She is upset because I took away the rag & told her she was done mopping.





After Mama was done unloading dishwasher she decided to load it with a few of her own things. (notice the blocks in the utensil holder)



I don't think that's exactly where cabbage patch dolls go but hey it works.

Scrubbing Toilets - she love's to do this. Hmmm, maybe she has a future in house cleaning?

Pretending to feed Addie with her her dishes

Busy Weekend

So this weekend started off with a BANG in our house. Ellia fell into the ottoman and got a black eye. Next it was off to swim lessons where Ellia decided she didn't need to wait for mama and jumped into the pool all on her own. She sunk right to the bottom & I had to jump in & rescue her. She cried for a bit but eagerly participated in the lesson. No fear when it comes to water. Which is why we are taking lessons. (even though mama isn't excited about being in a swimsuit)
This weekend we also got Addie's ear's pierced. She wasn't thrilled at the time but she loves them now. She told me. And she looks super cute with them!;o)
And finally this weekend rounded out with snow. Yes, snow in March. We got about 2.3 inches - just enough to play in. Check out our pictures from the weekend.

Black eye & all it's glory






Swimming Lessons







Getting Addie's ears pierced
You can't really see the ears here but this is afterwords - she is happy now.

Not so happy at the moment & we still had one more ear to go

Ready, set, go

Marking the ear lobes





Snow

Our little "snowman"

Sisters in the snow together - love how Addie is just lying there


Trying the 3 ponytail look - Daddy isn't a fan of these

Big Sister = Big helper

***Warning*** What not to do when you have a toddler running around who constantly wants to be your helper.

Addie covered in milk from Big sister trying to feed her

Big Sister trying to feed Addie

Do you see all the milk on Addie's face & on my couch?

Grateful

I am a blog surfer. I surf from one blog to another to another to another. You get my drift here. And when I do this I stumble across many great blogs which is how I found MckMama, Kelly's Corner, Infertile Myrtle and CF Husband. Some are funny, some are light reading, some are Heavy reading but all of them are Inspirational.

I was told about Gracie's Blog today at MOPS and of course had to come check it out. One's that involve children are the most cherished one's I read. Now that I am a mother they pull at those enduring mother heart strings that I never thought I had - until my girls came along.

After reading today about Gracie and wiping my eyes from the bucket of tears I cried I found myself being so grateful. Grateful that our girls are healthy, grateful for my family & friends, grateful for my wonderful & amazing husband and grateful that our God is amazing.

He gives us so much every day to be grateful for but we hurry through our days with dishes & laundry that we forget to tell Him "Thanks". Thanks for allowing us to live yet another day when so many young lives are taken each day. Thanks for giving us our families that create all the laundry & dishes we at times grudgingly clean up. (Hey I know I am like that sometimes) Thanks that we live in a country where we are openly allowed to worship Him and post blogs about His amazing peace & love.

Bill often asks me "Why do you read all those sad blogs?" and I always reply with the same response "Because these people are an inspiration to me. They help me to take my eyes off myself for just a minute & to remember who I should be focusing on". These blogs make me think and yes many times cry but most importantly if they inspire a blog post then I'm sure that is just what they were meant to do.

Take a minute today to think about all you are Grateful for & tell the Lord, tell your kids, your husband, that family member or friend. Let them know that they mean the world to you. And then have them help you with the laundry & dishes.

Not Me! Monday......#21

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

This week the words "He is going to stay out there until he learns his lesson" did not come out of my mouth when referring to our dog Bubba. Who once again chewed up something that he shouldn't have......his brush and one of Addie's onesies. Prompting my husband to say "You don't honestly think he understands why he is outside in the rain, right?"

And I did not possibly say "It makes me feel good to say this even though he may not understand after all he is my 3rd child and thus will be treated as such"

While out running errands for my MOPS project this week I did not linger longer at the learning store and tell my husband "for a split second I almost thought how fun it would be to home school." Nope, I would never go back on my words uttered to my husband while dating...."I will never home school our children"

After completing my MOPS project I took the time to have my wedding rings cleaned at the jewelry store since it was only a few blocks from the learning store. And while I was there I did not longingly stare at all the beautiful pieces of jewelery in the cases. And I did not ease drop on the two couples who were in there picking out their engagement rings. All the while smiling & thinking about how 3.5 years ago Bill and I stood in the exact spots picking out our rings.

After the jewelry store I did not swing through Starbucks order a vanilla latte & then head to Target. Where I strolled through each & every isle in peace & quiet. Did I mention that while I was running all these errands and taking my time per tending to not be a mom or wife that my children were at my in-laws house with daddy? And I made it out of Target only spending $15 - WooHoo for me!

One night this past week during a middle of the night feeding Addie burped up all over my shoulder. And this Mama did not just wipe it up & go back to sleep. Sleeping in baby spit up is just disgusting and who would do that?