Pearls: A PCOS Documentary

I don’t update my infertility blog anymore because we are no longer trying to conceive, but I still have PCOS and it’s still a huge part of my lift.  It’ not just about infertility, it effects your whole body.  I have hashimotos thyroiditis as well, so pretty much my body sucks!  Anyway, I am a fan of Amy, the PCOS Diva, and she has been asked to be a part of this awesome PCOS documentary!  I just thought I would share it here for any of my followers that have PCOS or know someone who does.  I’m looking forward to seeing this and seeing what kind of information they share!

If you would like to read my infertility story, you can view it at My Inconceivable Story.

 

Big Blessings Come in Little Packages

A few weeks ago one of the girls in the youth group asked if she could take Elise’s picture for her photography portfolio.  Of course I said YES!!!!  Elise was such a good girl!  She never once cried or fussed and just sat there the entire time!  We didn’t get too many big smiles, but still some great shots!

All photography by Jessica Penniman of ONE:31 Photography.  Click on the link to view all photos.

So I’ll take this opportunity to do a little update on our sweet Elise Adelaide.

We are so blessed to have her in our family!  I thank God every day for her!  She has such a sweet disposition, she is so happy, and she totally LOVES her big brothers!!!  I couldn’t ask for anything more!

(outfit from Auntie Tina and headband from Auntie Trish)

She was obsessed with these pearls!  They made a fun noise when she swung them around and hit them on the floor   Needless to say, she really seems like she’s going to be a girly girl!

She can sit up all on her own!  Her favorite pass time is sitting on the blanket that Auntie Starr and cousins Tieran and Dallan made for her, surrounded by her toys.  She will sit and play for quite a while.  Then she will lay down on her tummy and roll around to explore.   She loves finding the hardwood and dragging her hand on it to make a squeaking noise!  She’s pretty good at getting around that way

I bought each of the kids one of these bins from Target and wrote their names on them with fabric markers.  When I got the idea to use Elise’s in the photo shoot I decided to decorate them a bit.  I’m no artist, but I’m happy with the results.  It wasn’t very stable so Jessica’s assistant, Sydney, was behind the curtain holding her up

Elise is becoming quite the little eater.  She definitely in a growth spurt!  Her favorite solid food right now is bananas…just like the boys!  She leans in to take her bites and everything.  She does not care for rice cereal so I think that’s why she wasn’t eating well in the beginning.  I bought some oatmeal and I think that’s better, but I believe she prefers just the food with nothing in it.

Elise loved playing with her Eiffel Tower piggy bank!  She kept eating the top of it   This picture is so sweet!!!  My Grandma made the blanket she is sitting on!

She sleeps so good and I am so grateful!  I don’t have to do anything to put her to bed, I can just lay her down with her binkie and fuzzy and she is good to go.  Of course I do rock her and sing to her sometimes because I want too   She has been waking up around 5:30am because she has lost her binkie, but if we put it back in she goes back to sleep for about another hour.  She takes her morning nap from 8:30am to 10 or 10:30am.  Then goes back down around noon and sleeps for about 2 hours.  Then she will usually take a short evening nap around 4 or 4:30pm, but only sleep for about 45 minutes.  Then she goes to bed at 6:30pm and sleeps all night.  She really is a good baby!

(outfit from Miss Laurie and Margie…Thank you ladies!!!!)

This was her Easter dress that she didn’t get to wear to church   But we got a few family pictures with it and these photos so that was great.  I think she looks like a baby doll here!

Thank you Jessica for the amazing pictures!  I can’t wait to get some printed and up in my house!

A Little Jesus Culture

For my birthday this year I asked my husband if I could go to Jesus Culture One Nights in Minneapolis and he was amazing enough to say yes!  I asked my friend Ashley to come with me and her husband was amazing enough to say yes too!

The concert was Thursday night, so we were just going to head out Thursday morning and come back Friday morning.  But the amazing weather around here decided to do what it’s been doing and there was a good snow storm scheduled to come through Thursday.  So we decided to leave Wednesday night after church.  After getting our kids settled (she has 4 young boys!) and getting coffee, we hit the road around 10:30pm.  I am at night owl at heart, but since my kids get up so early, I’m usually in bed by 10pm at the latest, so this was unusual for me.  I drank a Venti Americano at 9pm and it sure did work!  It rained the whole way and I really don’t like driving at night in the rain, so I was extra cautious.  Plus I’m not familiar with the roads and it seemed like corners came from no where!  We didn’t get into our hotel room until 1:30am!  Since my coffee worked so well and I don’t sleep well in new places, I didn’t go to sleep until after 3am and woke up several times.

We got up around 9am to get ready so we could have lunch with one of Ashley’s friends at about 11am.  We had lunch at this amazing Deli, Jason’s Deli.  By this time the freezing rain/hail was coming down and it was slippery when we came out after lunch.  From there we went to the Mall Of America.  I went when I was in the 7th grade and it was practically brand new.  I barely remember it and I’m sure tons has changed.  I really just wanted to say I had been, but we got some good shopping in too

When we came out around 4pm it was a full blown blizzard!  There was 4-5 inches on the ground and not a snow plow in sight!  It was so weird!  Anyway, we dropped off our goodies at the hotel and headed out to Applebees for dinner.  We went straight from dinner to the concert.

Almost all the of the floor seating was the special exclusive seating that you had to pay extra for and the rest was already full when we got there.  Instead of a balcony, this church basically had amphitheater seating in the back and it was perfect!  No ones heads were in our way (which is good for Ashley because she is a little vertically challenged ) and we could still see everyone on stage just fine.

The show opened with Derek Johnson.  He was a little bit country sounding and had a cool, but simple band.  Just a three piece drum set, an electric guitar player and then he played acoustic.  He played 4-5 songs and then Banning Liebscher came out to speak.  He and his wife are the directors of Jesus Culture.  He spoke about being the light in your city, it was really good!

Then there was the main event!  The Jesus Culture Band opened with Kim Walker-Smith’s Alive (video above) and just kept it up the whole time.  It was and incredible night and God definitely worked on some things in my heart that I’m still sorting out.  What I thought was cool about the band was it wasn’t over-done, but still amazing!  There was just one of every instrument and no background vocals, just Kim Walker-Smith and Chris Quilala singing.  Amazing!!!!

When we came out, there was another 3 inches on the car!  Luckily no ice, so I just brushed off the car and we were good to go.  Oh and I should mention that Ashley drove my car the whole time we were in Minneapolis because she’s from there and knew where she was going and it more comfortable driving in the bad weather too.  I am so grateful!

We got up at 6:30am so we could take our time getting home and amazingly we got to her house around 10am with only one stop.  I was not feeling good the whole trip and so tired that my husband didn’t go to work that afternoon as previously planned and he let me sleep.  I definitely needed it because I felt so much better after my nap!

Thank you Travis, Ashley and Dave (Ashley’s husband) for making my belated birthday present happen!

Six Months…and one day

That’s what she gets for being the third child… late blog posts   I had every intention of writing this yesterday and even took this adorable picture of her just for it.  But my day got away from me and it never happened.  Better get used to it girl, it’s just part of the gig

Alright, how has six months pasted since this amazing little girl was born?!?!?!  Life in our family has changed so much in that time, and not just because of her.  With each of our kids I have been amazing how easy it has been to add them to our family.  With each one, as soon as they were born it felt like they had always been a part of our family.  Some days it’s hard to remember what it was like before.  I would never, ever change when we had our kids or how many we have.  I love our little family!

Here are some things she can do:

*She can roll form back to belly
*She can roll from belly to back, but has only done it once
*She sleeps through the night (6:30pm-6am) most nights
*She eats about 5oz of formula every 3-4 hours
*She has had rice cereal and applesauce but is still struggling with swallowing.
It might have something to do with her cough right now so I’m still trying but not pushing her to do it.
*She loves chewing on just about anything…including our hands
*She does really well in the nursery or with baby sitters (yes, we have finally taken the plunge in that area!)
*She does not sit up yet.  She’s in a phase where she is just arching her back so I can’t even get her to practice.
*She loves her ExerSaucer and she has figured out how to kick and make it bounce.

Ok, Riley totally posed for this picture when we saw me get the camera…so cute!!!  He was just sitting there talking to her, so I grabbed my camera and he held still and looked at me out of the corner of his eye.  I love it!  It’s really amazing how she can be cranky and I can’t console her but the minute either of her brothers decide to “help” and entertain her, she gets immediately quiet!  We are really trying to teach Riley his responsibility as the biggest brother.  He doesn’t like growing up in a lot of ways since he sees his younger siblings getting taken care of and he has to do things on his own.  Sometimes I stop to help him put on his coat or shoes just because I know he wants the attention.  But he just loves his little sister and will sometimes just look at me and say “Elise is so cute Mommy!” or “I love Elise so much!”.  He is just the sweetest kid!

Aiden and Elise have a very special relationship.  Since Riley goes to school in the morning, they get alone time together.  Aiden loves playing with her and entertaining he.  I am really impressed that he’s not more jealous!  I always expected him to be because he relished being the baby when he was younger.  He has just started a phase where he wants more attention – asking us to pick him up and throwing more fits – but it’s never directed at Elise like it’s her fault or anything.  I’m so incredibly grateful we have had smooth sibling additions!

Not Hopping Today

Well it’s Blog Hop day for my online Bible study, but I’m bucking the system and doing my own thing   I wasn’t struck by the topics they wanted discussed today and really have something on my heart so I decided to just blog on my own.

I know this book is timed so very perfectly in my life.  So many things right now are out of my control, and it keep getting worse.  The further along I get in the book, the more things are slipping from my fingers.  But God is filling those wholes with more of Him and showing me I can trust Him.

Chapter 8 struck me deeply this week.  The title: Due To Circumstances Beyond Our Control.  Seriously?  That is my entire life right now!  Instead of trying to explain it all, I just want to share some tid-bits from the chapter that spoke to me.

“Yes, we want to change our looks, but we also want to change our income levels, our domestic surroundings, the possessions we own.  And while we’re at it, we might as well swap out our hubby and kids for a more cooperative clan.But changing our circumstances rarely change us.  What transforms our outlook and us is an attitude shift.  It’s God’s job to determine our circumstances.  It’s our job to cooperate with Him in the midst of them, adjusting and realigning our attitudes with the truth of Scripture.“ page 156

“Your job is obedience.  God’s job is results.” page 162

“Don’t do what you can’t.  Realize the nonnegotiables of circumstances.  If you can’t possibly make a sickness flee or a loved one stop her destructive  behavior, don’t waste precious energy spinning your wheels trying.  Likewise, don’t allow your mind to burn up time dwelling on the can’ts of your circumstances.  If you can’t change something, drop it and move on.” page 162-163

“That’s why you must walk so closely with the King that you know both when He is calling you to quietly trust as He works behind the scenes and when He is cueing you to make a move.” page 163

I pray that some of these words speak to you in your circumstance.  If you are struggling with control, or your life feeling out of control, I would highly recommend this book!

Let.It.Go. Week 3

Wow, this week has really struck home for me!  Especially chapter 6!  These are area I’m am always working on to do better in.  One of the most powerful things Karen said for me was found on page 114 “She (Proverbs 31 woman), like all of us, set the tone of the home.  We moms set the mood and establish the atmosphere.”  Whoa that is so huge!!!!  I will be the first to admit that I don’t always have the right attitude, so when I do it is liable to effect everyone else in my home.  Definitely something to be aware of daily.

Here are the Blog Hop topics today:

1.  Domestic Diva. Not everyone feels very domestic when it comes to keeping our home in or, but our reflection verse reminds us that we don’t do everything. Instead, we take charge of managing our home. How does this verse change your perspective of joyfully taking care of the home front?  She watches over the activities of her household ~ Proverbs 31:27 HCSB

I’m not sure how much freedom this gives me honestly.  I really don’t like being the one in charge, but I do it when I have to which means in my home.  I would rather sit back and let someone else take point while I do my job.  But since that is not my calling in my home, I do what I need to.  We are pretty good about sharing responsibilities in our home so this verse is perfect for us.

2.  Tin-Pot Pampers. Chapter Five. Let’s face it mom’s, we either micromanage our kids or do everything for them; we can’t help it, they’re so gosh darn cute! But not everyone here has kids. Moms, what insights can you share with everyone from what you’ve learned from both your experiences and by reading this chapter? Is there a victory you can share about how you’ve nurtured your kids by letting go?

I’ve felt so impressed lately to be praying over my children specific things and teaching them how to see those things in their lives.  My favorite quote from chapter 5 was on page 104 “Make applying Biblical principles  around your home as natural as breathing.”  That is what I desire for my home.  We are especially working with our oldest son on some issues and I am having to show him how to take responsibility for his actions and how they effect others.  I have to put it in his hands so he realizes what he is doing.

3.  Hampering Home. Chapter Six. Ok, I was going to share a little picture of my home…but it’s beyond messy at the moment {6 week old baby takes precedence over that pile of books I’ve needed to sort and put away for 6 weeks}. Sometimes the dust bunnies just keep multiplying because there’s no one to sweep them away. How did you find Chapter Six helpful for taming your home by sharing the responsibilities?

I definitely don’t “do it all” in my home.  My husband is amazing at helping and doing his part.  Our children are young so we are still teaching them to help where they can.  I need to implement a chore chart or something where they have regular responsibilities and let go of some things there.

4. Put your hands up! It was only three short years ago that I got married to my best friend and just seven weeks ago that we welcomed our first child into the world. Sooooo…these two chapters seem to fit a much later time in my life. I know not everyone here has kids or is married. But we can still walk away from these chapters with some wisdom. What is the one thing from these chapters you hope to hold on to for the future??

My mood can set the tone for my house and making Biblical principles natural in our home.  No matter what your family looks like, these two things can be paramount!

Let.It.Go. Week 2

I am currently reading Let.It.Go. by Karen Ehman as part of the Online Bible Study with Melissa Taylor.  I think the minute I made the decision to join this online Bible study, God decided he would grant my request to learn to “let it go”!  Anyway, every week they do a Blog Hop.  I didn’t get to participate last week, so I am excited to get to do it this week.

1. Prevail – Have you ever made plans only to have God completely redirect them? Share how His plans blessed your life or the life of those around you. “Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” ~ Proverbs 19:21 NIV11

Wow, this has happened so many times it will be hard to pin down exactly one.  One of the biggest ones was when we decided to have children.  I was 24.  I always had a sinking feeling this would be a difficult process for me, but always hoped I was just being paranoid.  Turns out I wasn’t.  We tried for 3 years on our own with no luck.  We finally sought medical help and started “letting go” of our plans.  God took over and when I was 28 our first son was born!  We now have two boys and one girl!  God has blessed our entire family with these amazing children and I am so grateful He has entrusted them to me!

2. Let go, girl! – Chapter Three. “When we willingly accept our lot in life, welcoming all that God is trying to teach us through it, we lose the drive to over control, to micromanage in an all-out attempt to appear perfect and ensure everything is “just so.”” pg 54 Let.It.Go. We all have things we need to let go of and allow God to take control. Write a prayer giving God control over every aspect of your life.

Lord, there is so much in my life that I wish I could snap my fingers and get my way.  But I don’t want my way, I want YOUR way.  Please take control of those things and replace my need for control with your peace.  Thank You for taking care of me and loving me!

3. Stand by Your Man – Chapter Four. Karen shared five biblical “dance steps” for letting our husband lead. Which ones do you find the easiest to follow? Are there any you find a wee bit more challenging?

The easiest one for me is #4 – Find the unique dance steps that work for your marriage.  I feel that my husband and I have a great cooperative marriage.  Sometimes people look at me weird when I tell them that my husband lets me go out by myself when I need to and he never complains.  And at the same time I let him do the same.

A more challenging one might be #1 – Realize that the act of submitting is always a choice by  and an action of the wife.  I admit I have trouble submitting sometimes, ok lots of times   It definitely has to be a conscious choice and action on my part.  I have just made a big step submitting a very big decision into my husbands hands.  Not easy, but I know it was the right choice.

Promises

So, the strangest thing happened as I was preparing to write this post.  I was searching for images of the word “promise” and this picture came up.  It wasn’t my favorite, but there weren’t very many good options.  As I was looking at the source so I could link it to the picture (click on the picture to view source), I decided to read the article.  The blog is DA Inspires and the article is about listening to what God has for you regardless of what others think you should do.  She says this:

When God gives you a word, it will always be better, smarter, and wiser, than any piece of advice or direction your advisors, colleagues, and loved ones can give.  Even if the world disagrees with you (which it often will), you must remain true to God’s Word!

I just love how she puts it!  Not only will God come through, but it will be better than you can imagine!

Along with feeling that I must persevere this year, I believe it will also be a year of promise.  Over the last couple of weeks the word promise has come up in various things I have heard or read.  Last Sunday our Youth Pastor spoke on God’s Promises for the New Year (listen here).  He used Abraham and Sarah as the prime example of God’s promise.  Sometimes we take matters into our own hands because we don’t feel that God is coming through for us (Abraham with Ishmael) and we think it’s good enough.  But we don’t realize that He has infinitely more than we can imagine.  Even if we are tested in that promise (Abraham sacrificing Isaac) He will come through.

I have a specific promise that I’m trusting God for this year.  So I’ve decided that yes “perseverance” is my word for 2013, but my focus is “Persevere through the Promise”.  I don’t know all the circumstances that will lead to my promise being fulfilled, but I will try my best “to see through to completion, despite difficulty”.

Has God made you a promise that you are trying to fulfill for Him?  Are you waiting on Him?  Are you willing to trust that He has more for you?

12 Years and Better Than Ever

Photo by In His Image Photography

Today marks 12 years married to my amazing husband, and 13 years together!  I will do my best to express my love and appreciation for him here, but words cannot do him justice!

I’m sure I’ve told our story before, but here it is in a nutshell.  Basically is was almost love at first sight – even though I didn’t want to admit it.  I had recently gotten out of a serious relationship and was not willing to jump in to anything new without really knowing my feelings.  After just about 2 weeks of dating, he told me he loved me.  I couldn’t say it back, but I let him know I wanted to get to know him better and see where it went.  He was patient.  What I didn’t realize then is that he always is.  When I’m moody, when I’m angry, when I’m silent, he is patient.  After about a month I realized I couldn’t fight it anymore, I knew I loved him.  So I told him.  From there it was a whirlwind.  He gave me a promise ring about a month later and we started planning the wedding.  We didn’t go a single day without seeing each other, except for one work trip he took, during that first year.  He was the one that wanted to get married as close to our first date anniversary as we could.  So I chose the first Saturday after that date and that was January 26th.  That day came and went….and here we are 12 years later!

I love him immeasurably more than when I first realized it 13 years ago!  And only because I know him so much better now and he has proved his love over and over and over again.  I never have to doubt it.  I will never have to doubt it.  Some people may call that naive, but I call it trust.  I call it commitment.

Trust me, we have been through our “stuff” that has tested that dedication and commitment, but it always remained true.  He is my rock, my support, my partner and my very best friend.  I could never have guessed that God would save such a wonderful man for little old me.  And boy am I glad He did!  My life would not be the same without him!

I love you Babe, more than I can say!  Thank you for being you and always loving me and our children!

Perseverance

Art by April Smith

Well this post is going to be very honest but a little vague.  So you can make all the assumptions you want, but I’m just wanting to talk about details right now

First I want to start with the beautiful picture above!  It was painted by my friend April Smith.  She is an amazing woman of God and one of her giftings is prophetic interpretation.  She was prompted on New Years Eve to do prophetic painting until midnight.  This means she put on worship music and prayed for whoever she was painting for and painted what God showed her for them.  Now some of you may think this is weird and that’s ok, but I completely trust her and know she would never make anything up!  She posted on FaceBook that she was doing this and said to let her know if you wanted one.  I jumped right on board and asked for one.   This was the picture she painted for me.  She included this text “Enjoy the ride and don’t worry about figuring it out! Just BE in Him . He knows… Yes He knows and will take you – 1 Cor 13:12 NLT Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity.  All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.”  I cannot even express how perfectly these words and even the details of the picture fit exactly with what I am going through right now!  I am so blessed that God spoke through her to send me this message!

If you read my last post about Happy Mornings, you will know I didn’t want to go to church last Wednesday, but did and was convicted to get back into my quiet times.  But that’s not all that happened.  I was still feeling a little disconnected and drained when one of the ladies got up to share something that God had shared with her.  The first word she spoke was “perseverance”.  Then she shared the definition: to see through to completion, despite difficulty.  It hit me with a ton of bricks, I almost started crying right there! (that happens to me all the time lately by the way!)

I really feel like I am being called to “push through” a hard time in my life right now and do the things God has called me to do in this time…even though all I want to do is crawl in a hole!  This word just confirmed that crawling in a hole is not an option   Of course I knew this, but it’s just how I feel!  She told a true story about “missing the boat” and there were people that didn’t even know they missed it.  They would never know they missed it because they gave up.  She said “We do not know if God has our answer just around the corner” and asked two questions: “Do you continue to bear fruit in troubled times?” and “Is your fruit sweet or bitter?”.  I have been tempted to check out during this time and just endure, but these questions struck true.  I can’t check out or if I do any fruit I may bear will be bitter.  In fact I am a little bitter already and need to get over it.  I need to bear sweet fruit during my troubled time!

So my word for the year is PERSEVERANCE!  With God’s help, I can do this!  And I will see His promised fulfilled in my life.

Do you have a word for the year?  I would love to hear yours if you do!  If you don’t, maybe pray about it and see what God might have for you in 2013.