When you need it God will provide it.

The past few weeks have become progressively more difficult on me physically and yesterday evening as I was helping Merek put on her cubbies vest to go to church I almost could not keep my eyes open. We said goodbye to Ryan, who was also not feeling one hundred percent, and loaded up in the car. I took the princess to her class happily reciting her verse as we walked and then slowly marched up the stairs to my bible study.
Our family has been through a lot of stresses the past few months and I was so blessed by the study. I am certainly learning that when you actually need it God will provide it if you are diligent to ask for it and rely upon Him! The power of prayer in a stressful situation is Astounding! Then to really put what we learned into practice, I have been dreading going to the grocery store for a week now and have actually shed tears over the matter. I cant push the buggy with Merek and groceries in it and I cannot load the car by myself so I have been putting it off. However when we came home from church I found Ryan putting the groceries away in a freshly cleaned kitchen.

I felt so silly but I couldn't help but cry. Many of you know my personal story and if we went back in time three years you would see a very different life. I am so incredibly blessed to have such a wonderful and adoring husband that thinks about his family above himself! God has truly given me so much more than I could even have known to asked for. Ryan is my best friend and I cannot imagine where I would be right now without him. So much of who I am today can be attributed to the wonderful love and influence he has been in my life. I only wish that every girl could be so lucky!

On a lighter note we took Merek to the pumpkin patch this past weekend and then carved pumpkins. She has grown so much right before our eyes and I cannot believe how beautiful she has become. She is SO excited to meet her little brother and if he would quit being stubborn and just come see us I know she will be a wonderful big sister.


We have also been blessed with a new niece as Kim and Phillip are finally home with Leeza. We are so excited to be a part of this exciting time in their lives (even if we are a few states away) and are so happy to see them all together finally!
And to celebrate just a little bit further my sweet Mimi has her last chemotherapy treatment tomorrow. After four months of being sick she is finally done with yet another round! Praise the LORD!

Light at the End of the Tunnel

As we approach our due date I am becoming more and more anxious to meet our sweet little boy! His room is ready, his tiny clothes are folded, the bag is packed and I am ready! Last night was a full moon and Ryan and I joked that maybe that would send us into labor...as you can see it didn't. But at our appointment today I saw him taking some beautiful little practice breaths and they estimate he weighs 5 pounds 7 ounces which is more than Merek weighed at birth. Our Doctor joked that we must feel over due since this is the longest we have ever been pregnant. We are continuing to watch him extremely closely but he seems to be doing wonderfully and they even think they saw some hair on the sonogram.

Meanwhile our sweet princess is loving school and super excited about having a little brother. The latest comment she has been repeating is "Mommy Dexter is getting REALLY big!" haha I suppose you can always rely on a child to tell you the brutal truth. She has had so many fun things start up the past few weeks. They brought a firetruck to school and she has been feeling the doors ever since to make sure there isn't a fire behind it, she started ballet and has been diligently practicing first position, and she also started cubbies at church and recited her very first memory verse last night with perfection.

We are so incredibly blessed and have so much going on! Please also note that Kim and Philip have a court date tomorrow to adopt our new niece in the Ukraine so please lift up a prayer for them tomorrow if you think about it.

Oh Boy! Oh Boy!

On Sunday we were profoundly blessed by our friends and family as we had Dexter's Baby Shower. What a blessing to have those who love you surround you with laughs, support and of course gifts! We had a ton of fun and Ryan even brought Merek by after her nap and she had enormous amounts of fun opening all of Dexter's presents.We are so incredibly grateful for the family that has done nothing but support us and love us. And we are anxious to share this time with all of them.

Then to add to the fun, last night we had a bit of a false labor alarm. As I diligently timed our contraction which were nearing five minutes apart and becoming frustratingly uncomfortable Ryan ran about like a chicken with his head cut off frantically packing a hospital bag. In-between asking me which socks he should pack and whether I wanted a night gown or t shirt and which flip flops to take he was trying to console me in my discomfort. He became increasingly more anxious as I became outrageously tired. after drinking an insane amount of water, taking a hot bath, and contorting to several different sleeping positions we were finally able to slow the contractions so I could get some sleep. That was the best night of sleep I have had in weeks but unfortunately for Ryan all of the excitement kept him wide awake. Needless to say Dexter did not make his grand arrival but we anxiously await his coming!

They Grow Up Too Fast!

Well Merek started her very first day of pre-school, or as she would like to call it "Big Girl School". She was so excited that she changed outfits 9 times before settling on one. I packed her lunch and backpack and the whole way to school we talked about all of the fun things she was going to do. Two blocks from the school she started to watch and screamed "my school my school!!!!!' the minute she saw it. We walked to her classroom and she gave me a kiss and hug and ran inside never looking back. It was so awesome! 
While I did not become emotional or upset I couldn't help but remember how little she used to be. I couldn't help but think about her tiny little hands and giant blue eyes as she looked up at me for the first time. And now she is walking into her classroom successfully without me. What a fantastic experience to have as a parent! To know that whatever it was we did, something must have been right because she is so strong and successful!


On another note, our sweet little boy is growing very quickly too. Thankfully we still have one child that needs us! We had our 30 week checkup today which isn't that special because we have checkup's every week but today we got to have a sonogram. It never gets old seeing his little face on the screen and today he was opening and closing his eyes during the scan. We are so blessed that he has continued to grow and develop wonderfully and after seeing him today I am that much more desperate to see him in real life.

I don't by any means think we are perfect parents, however I do take pride in knowing that my children are happy, healthy, and growing. God has given us such wonderful blessings in our children and I cannot imagine life without them!

Our Daughter the Parrot

Ryan, Merek, and I all put on our brave faces this evening and went grocery shopping in Walmart on tax free weekend. Please remind me to never do that again. While we are walking through the store Ryan saw a man that was obviously stuck in the sixties. Ryan's response was "look Sam its a hippie." We continued on our way but the man was following us. Merek then decided to shout.......
"Watch out!!!!! It's a Hippie!!!!!" as loudly as she possibly could.
No one is perfect at the whole parenting thing but we are definitely learning that we have to think before we speak when Merek is in ear shot. I am constantly amazed by just how much she is listening too. Her innocent repetitions are funny sometimes and then on other occasions we are running from a very hairy man in Walmart.

Where Does Jesus Live?

This evening at dinner we were discussing all of the fun things that Merek can teach to Dexter when he gets here. After a long list of things she can teach to" him she then said "I can teach him how to pray before dinner!" Ryan and Merek then started talking about why we pray to Jesus and God and that God is Jesus' Daddy. So to test her knowledge and imagination I asked "Merek where does Jesus live?"
After thinking long and hard she decided that "Jesus is at church and  He drives his car home." However, she couldn't really put her finger on where He is. So Ryan took her outside to look at the sunset. They decided that Jesus lives above the clouds. It was a sweet moment and I am so thankful that we have the opportunity to teach our children about the love that God has for us and the sacrifice that He made to save us.

There is an ice age coming to Tyler

So being pregnant over the summer was NOT the greatest idea ever but here we are...august in Texas and seven months pregnant. Needless to say I am miserable. So I have taken the necessary steps to ensure that I am always cold. It is 70 degrees in the house and every ceiling fan is on high. But in addition to that I have brought in box fans to help keep me cool at night. I feel so much better, Ryan on the other hand is not feeling so great haha he is freezing! Poor guy I think he might catch a cold inside the house. He said "this place should be a stadium .....because there are so many fans." I'm pretty sure when his teeth quit chattering he will understand that the fat lady is HOT!

Getting Things Going

The start of a Searle Blog