Little Pig, Little Pig...

Ok, as a completely biased mother, last year I didn't think Halloween could get much cuter than my sweet Little Bo Peep, and her sheep:

However this year, I think they ran a close race as the Three Little Pigs.

We went up to our church for the Trunk or Treat. The girls had a great time. They loved getting candy. It was funny a bunch of the older people thought they were sheep....pink sheep with snouts! Funny.

Wishing for red...

As I sit here tonight, following the election, I'm starting to feel depressed. I'm wanting to see more states painted red on the US map they keep showing. As I'm coming to terms that Obama is going to be the new president, I remembered something I came across in a Beth Moore study. She touched on God being in control and setting kings up and deposing them, and giving them wisdom. So I thought I would check out her blog to see what she said. It was encouraging, so I thought I would post her thoughts:

A few things I'm so thankful for on this election day, regardless of the outcome:

*We live in a democracy where we have the right to a vote and a voice. We have the God-given responsibility to use both wisely and in the way that best reflects what God conveys through Scripture.

*God "works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will" and "according to the plan." Ephesians 1:11

*Not only does God work out everything in conformity with His will, He has promised to work out everything for the GOOD of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

*God sets up kings and deposes them and gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. Daniel 2:21

*We, the beautifully diverse family of God, are never - not at any time - powerless. Nor are we ever victims of a system. Believing prayer takes us through doors we'll never be invited to enter and into judges chambers we'll never grace. Take a look back at Genesis 18 once again with astonishment over the dialogue between God and His servant and friend, Abraham. Rejoice that God is ever mindful of a faithful remnant. The Judge of the Earth will always do right.

*Even if persecution should await believers in Christ or harrowing circumstances hound us, God will use hardship to bring unity and purity to a people who need it desperately. The best of circumstances do not always produce the best in the Bride of Christ.

*The living God is firmly established upon His Throne and there at His holy feet we can always find grace and mercy in our time of need.

*No matter what happens today, we are GOD'S elect. He has elected us to show His heart and to walk in His ways in the culture that surrounds us. We are called to walk in the challenging balance of grace and truth.

May we be filled with Christ's Spirit today and our mouths given to praise and to believing, receiving prayer. God IS faithful and He has us firmly in His hand. We will not fear. We will not doubt. We will not hate.

"Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in Him, for He shields him all day long, and the one the Lord loves rests between His shoulders." Deuteronomy 33:12

I remain your servant,
Beth

Sweet Ella Faye

turned two last week. She will raise one finger and tell you she is "dwo". Can't believe she is already two...then on the other hand I can see the terrific twos almost daily. She really is a sweet little girl, and it is a joy watching her grow.

Ella had a lot of fun at her party. I think her favorite gift was a box of band-aids, which she is proudly showing off here.

Just a year ago...how much things change in one year!

Three's a breeze.....

especially when my mom and mother-in-law have been here, taking complete responsibility for Maylee and Ella. Tomorrow after school, my mom is going home. That is when the real challenge begins. Hopefully there will be survivors! Everything is going well so far, some nights with little sleep, but that is always to be expected. Anyway, tomorrow the real fun starts as we are back to reality with our family of three girls.

Hadley Anne

Our sweet Hadley is finally here. She came on the 29th at 12:20 pm. 7lbs 1oz 18 3/4 inches. She is such a sweet baby and has been really good. How fast I forgot the sweet smell and feel of a newborn head, their soft warm skin, their little eyes that seem to go in their own direction, and so much more. I'm so grateful to experience all of this again.

Maylee and Ella are quite intrigued. Of course I had both our good cameras charged and ready to go (even at the hospital) and somehow Matt ended up only taking pictures with his phone! I'll post some of those later...there are some classics.

Everything went well, but there was a little kink in my epidural. Seems that they went a little too far, and the epidural went up and down. It pretty much knocked me out for the whole delivery....it was all I could do do open my eyes for 2 seconds to look at my baby! My arms went numb, had a some trouble breathing...pretty scary for a little bit, but everything ended up being ok.

We go home tomorrow to start our new life with three little girls. Like I always tell Maylee and Ella, "I don't know how we got so lucky to get the sweetest girls in the world!"

Thanks so much for all your thoughts, prayers, calls and emails!

Tomorrow, tomorrow....

Is the big day we will welcome our new baby girl into the world. I really thought she was going to come early, like Ella did. However, I came to terms this week, that she would come on the scheduled day. Maylee is really excited...she keeps asking if the baby is going to get to take a ride at the hospital, which I'm still trying to figure out what she means by that???? Who knows. Maylee wants to know if she can kiss her tomorrow, which I thought was really sweet. It will be interesting to see how Ella acts. I really think she senses things are about to change, as the "terrific twos" are allowing some great moments (not even two yet!!).

No food or liquid after mid-night tonight, and we have to be at the hospital at 10:00. The c-section is scheduled for noon, so I bet we are holding our new baby girl by 12:30. I'll definitely keep you posted!

Oh what a night.....

Last night was Maylee's first real meeting for Awana's. This is the first year that she has been able to participate. We worked so hard all week on her verses: the Cubbie key verse: God loved us and sent His son; and the Cubbie Motto: Jesus loves me. She had it down and was ready to go.

Matt had left earlier the day, and was going to be out of town working. So at 5, Ella and I dropped Maylee off at her class. Ella and I ran some errands, Target, the pharmacy, and then I was picking up out take out order from McAlister's. Ella and I ran in, got the food, and were back to the car to go pick Maylee up. That was the plan at least.......once at the car, I started searching for my keys. "Are they in this pocket?....no...ok...this one?....no...oh no, please no.....yep, I locked them in the car....and my cell phone too".

I was suppose to pick Maylee up in 20 minutes and I had locked my keys in the car with no phone. I went back into McAlisters, used there phone. After several attempts, I found a locksmith who answered. I tried the number for the church in the phone book, but got no answer. I then called Matt, who was working at his computer, and he tried calling and emailing people at the church. By then my pregnancy hormones (I'll at least blame it on them) had kicked in, tears streaming down as I went out to my locked car to "calm down". My poor baby stranded at the church, while we were stuck, helpless and stuck.

Ella and I waited and waited and waited (an 1 1/2 with a two year old in a restaurant and parking lot can seem like an eternity). It took the locksmith an hour to get there. Finally he did. He started working, and it wasn't looking promising. I called Matt again, and Maylee was with our children's minister. After a while, she finally brought Maylee to me. It was such a great relief to see that little girl, and just have her with me. We decided to go ahead and eat our dinner, while the guy was still working on the car.

I looked outside, and saw the guy climbing through the back window!!! Praise the Lord!!!! I definitely knew my prayers had been answered when he told me how he was able to unlock it. He had the door pried open enough to stick a long wire into the car, and was actually trying to get the keys. The keys slipped, so he was trying again to get them. While trying to get them, he "accidentally" pressed the button on the remote that rolled the back window down!!! Crazy. I was just so relieved after 2 hours......Oh what a night.