And then there were 4!!

 

Yes, Emery is going to be a BIG sister in September!!  Details to come :)

A Shift in Perspective…

I don’t think it’s a major secret to anyone that I have had a HUGE desire to be a stay at home mom.  This is honestly something I have struggled with since the day Emery was born.  I’ve been bitter about having to work, jealous of moms who get to stay at home, and down right mad at the Lord for calling me to be a working mom.  Another thing that you may or may not know about me is that I am a control FREAK.  I like things done the way I like them done, I like knowing when they’re going to happen, how they’re going to happen and why they’re going to happen.  I am ESPECIALLY a control freak when it comes to Emery. 

Our life group has been doing a study on the book “Crazy Love” by Francis Chan which I have read before, so I wasn’t expecting to learn much the second time through, BUT the Lord had other plans!  Many of our discussions have centered around surrender, and during one particular discussion on Chapter 7 we were challenging each other to pinpoint the one thing in our life that we desire more than God, or that we love/value more than God.  In Chapter 7 of “Crazy Love” Chan gives many examples of men and women in The Bible who had faith and were totally surrendered to the lordship of Jesus Christ.  The example that stuck out to me was of Abraham lying Isaac down as a sacrifice ready to take his life (Hebrews 11:17 –19).  I immediately knew the area of my life that was not surrendered was Emery. 

As our group is doing the Crazy Love study our church is doing a sermon series on “When You’re Out of Time, and Other are Cutting in Line”.  I immediately thought yes I’ve been waiting on my stay at home mom prayer to be answered for two years now, pastor is going to fill me in on how to make that happen…SWEET!  Umm..wrong again April.  Several weeks into the series he talked about how we must trust God with our smallest faith, and he specifically spoke to the “control freaks”…he may as well have held up a sign and said “HELLO APRIL COLLINS I’M TALKING TO YOU RIGHT NOW, YOU NEED TO TRUST HIM WITH EMERY AND SURRENDER!!!”

You see the whole time I’ve been praying the wrong prayer.  I’ve been asking God to show me what he wants me to do, and honestly I don’t think he cares WHAT I’m doing.  He just wants me working.  I’ve made it about myself and what I could do for my students, when it’s been about HIM all along.  I’ve thought I can’t be a mom to these kids and to Emery, but that’s not what he’s wanted from me.  He has simply wanted me to work and give up my days with Emery because that is how he is asking me to “sacrifice” her just as he asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac.  That is how he wants me to let him be Lord over my EVERYTHING, including my Emery.  He loves her more than I EVER could, and he wants me to TRUST him WITH her, not just to trust him FOR her.

So, now nothing is different in my life, but somehow everything is different.  I still go to work at the same job everyday, I still send Emery to the sitter everyday, but my perspective has totally changed.  Everyday I get to wake up and tell the Lord that he has ALL of me, not every part except for one, but ALL.  I am so excited to see what he can do with my ALL because I know its more than I could ever do on my own.

Everybody Jump, Jump, Jump!

Brad and I both had MLK Jr. Day of, so we decided to do something fun together as a family.  We went to Jump, which is a new indoor place for kids to play that is full of inflatables such as, slides, obstacle courses, jump houses, and basketball goals.  Emery was IN.HER.ELEMENT.  She did NOT want to leave.  See what I mean about the thrill seeking comment? ha!

Is this not the face of pure bliss?? ha.  Love it!

Look at that concentration!

Alright Dad, I’m TOTALLY ready!

Don’t know why my face looks like this..ha!

Big slide all by herself!

We will be going back soon!!

Snow Day

We were so pumped to get a snow day!  It came at the perfect time because it gave us a day at home just to hang out as a family before soccer season started!  It was just what this soccer wife ordered :)

Although we had lots of fun, Emery did not actually like the snow.  And by did not like I actually mean HATED.   She kept saying that it was cold, and she wanted to slide and swing which was not possible because the swing set was covered with snow!  Brad and I decided Emery is more of a thrill seeker, so we should’ve opted for sleigh riding over snowman building and it would’ve probably gone over much better.

We did manage to capture some pictures where it actually looked like she was enjoying herself…score!  Emery said she much prefers to sit on Lucy’s dog food stash and read her books in her “secret place”, which is the small area between the refrigerator and our basement door.  Silly girl!!

For Sale: 3BR/1BA Single Family House in Roanoke, VA, $129,950

Hey guys, here is the link for our home that is officially for sale by owner!

For Sale: 3BR/1BA Single Family House in Roanoke, VA, $129,950

Happy Half Birthday Emery!

Today you are 18 months old sweet baby girl. You are the best thing that has ever happened to your daddy and I! You are a beautiful little girl on the inside and out! You are silly, sweet, and a handful all wrapped up in one! You are a BIG mama’s girl, and I don’t mind it one bit!! You follow me around and want to do EVERYTHING just like mama! My favorite thing we do is when you say your prayers at night…they usually go something like this “Sus, tank ko, mama, dada, bay-be sus, iyuuuuu, men!” Translated that is “Dear Jesus, thank you for mama, dada, and baby Jesus. I love you. Amen” It melts my heart EVERY.SINGLE.TIME. You are putting words together to form sentences and thoughts. You are VERY determined, and you might have a temper…I have NO CLUE where you got that from??!! Lots of times when Mommy or Daddy ask you to do something you really struggle trying to decide whether you want to listen or not, but you USUALLY are a VERY good listener. You do your tricks, all 14 thousand of them, on command, and we appreciate that! You love to play with older kids, but are not that into kids your own age or younger. You HATE the nursery at church, and mommy and daddy hate leaving you there! You’re still a great eater and sleeper.

**Yes, Emery is now almost 20 months, but that’s okay I’m just a little late :) And these pics are from 19 months, but close enough!!

{Welcome 2012}

I’m going to take a page out of Emily’s book and make a list of things I want to accomplish or improve in 2012.  Thanks for the great idea Em!!

- Sell our house, and move into a new one

- Stay in shape/Get back into shape regardless of circumstances

- Become a better teacher by incorporating new and more hands on learning experiences

- Cook dinner for our family at least three nights a week (you’ve gotta start somewhere)

- Actually set up my “photography business” that sounds really funny, but you guys know what I mean :)

I have a GREAT feeling about this New Year.  I feel like there’s going to be a lot of changes for our family, and I can’t wait!