Monday, May 25, 2009

Happy Memorial Day!

DEFINITION OF A VETERAN

A Veteran - whether active duty, retired, national guard or reserve - is someone who, at one point in their life, wrote a check made payable to "The United States of America", for an amount of "up to and including my life."
Author Unknown



Thank you to all who have given so much to insure that our freedoms are secure.

David, thank you for all you gave up over the last six years to serve your country and keep us safe.

Stephen and John, thank you for every day that you go to do your job in the midst of extreme and dangerous environments. You sacrifice every day for me and my boys. I love you and pray for your safety always!


Wednesday, May 13, 2009

"Always"--Building 429

For the so many I know right now who are hurting in one way or another--


28 weeks

We had an interesting day yesterday. The day started well, with all the normal activities. I dropped Ryan off to play at my aunt's house, and my mom, Brandon and I got on the road to Abilene(about an hour drive away.) We were about five miles out when the van started feeling really funny to me. I was able to get the cruise turned off and start slowing down to pull over before sure enough, I heard a loud POP as I came to a stop. The front right tire was FLAT. Not good...
I had my first appointment within 30 minutes, my husband was an hour and a half away, my uncle, the only other person I could call, was at least that far away as well!! I wasn't about to attempt to change it on my own, even if I had a clue where/how to start!!! In the middle of trying to figure out what in the world we were going to do, a truck pulled up behind us. A man whose name I don't even know, stopped and changed it for us!!! It was so sweet! He said that he just hoped that someone would stop if his wife needed help. The Lord was so good to us, in protecting us and provided for us what we needed as soon as we needed it. I ended up making it my appointment only a couple minutes late. Steven took off work, drove that hour and a half to meet me to be there to get the tire fixed. I have an awesome husband!! It turned out that we didn't even have to get a new tire, just repair the two puncture holes in the old one. Yay!! Less money out of pocket and out of our emergency fund.

So, with that eventful start, I was able to go to my 28 week checkups and see how our baby is growing and developing!

Our littlest guy is weighing 2 lbs, 9 oz now! He's definitely getting stronger because he's kicking a LOT harder now! The neonatologist looked at his heart yesterday and said that there are no problems with his heart valves--they are both wide open and functioning properly!! We're so thankful for that news after all the Brandon had to go through with his heart procedure.

It was so sweet to see the baby on the sono. There was an awesome shot of his face. We could see him moving his mouth and making faces! Loved it!!!

I'm feeling pretty good considering it's the third trimester, and I'm getting bigger by the minute! :) Ryan and Brandon are keeping me much more active with this pregnancy which is probably helping me to have that little bit of extra energy that I usually don't have with my pregnancies.

We only have 10 weeks to go!!! My doctor said that we can schedule the delivery for as soon as July 21st. I can't believe it's that close already! I don't have a thing ready for him, except a closet full of diapers and nursing pads that I've been stashing away over the last few months. I have dressers to clean out and a garage sale to plan before I can start organizing baby clothes and blankets, etc. If I can get over this cold I have right now, I'm hoping to tackle a lot of the clearing out this week. We'll see!!!

I switch to having checkups every two weeks now, so I'll try to post after each one if I can. Maybe even more often than that if I'm not crazy busy!! :)

Monday, May 11, 2009

Trying again to post these!!

Brandon, trying out his brother's boots!

Such a cutie!



Ryan, sporting his new boots, his hat and his gun!





My sweet boys!

Stealing kisses!

Taking snuggle time whenever I can get it

My grandma with my boys





My brother John and his family

Five generations of Walkers

Picture woes!

Well, I'll have to try again to post pictures when I have a few minutes. For some reason they've disappeared from Blogger. I'll work on it and post them again soon!!!

:)

Short and sweet

I'm sitting here, enjoying the sound of two little boys playing cars on the kitchen floor. It's amazing how soothing that can be!!!

What a wonderful weekend I've had with my family, just being together! Brandon and I both came down with yucky colds, but in spite of not feeling well, I loved the hugs and cards and sweet "Happy Mother's Day, Mommy"s that I received. Steven bought me a new blender, some much needed maternity clothes that FIT and two new pair of seriously CUTE sandals! I'm enjoying all of it!

Tomorrow I will be 28 weeks pregnant and will have another checkup and sonogram to make sure our littlest guy is still doing well. I can't believe that in 10 short weeks, we'll be welcoming him home and settling into a family of five. I have to admit I'm getting nervous about the prospect of labor, but I know it will be over and done with and I'll be able to just snuggle with my new baby in no time. I am looking forward to that part of it!! :)

Well, my boys are getting restless, so I better cut this short. Until next time, people!

PS-- Oh, for some reason, all my newly posted pictures are not showing up on my computer. Will someone let me know if you can see them??? I'm hoping it's just that the settings on my new computer need to be adjusted. Thanks!! :)

Monday, May 04, 2009

Strength For a Weary Mom

Girl Talk recently went through a series for moms of young children and moms of teenagers. I, of course, devoured the posts for moms with little ones. I wanted to point you in that direction if you are in this phase of life. I found their words to be both humbling and convicting, with lots of encouragement thrown into the mix!

Here's an excerpt from the last post by Kristin:

I want to close the week by reminding you of one of my favorite promises from God’s Word. Galatians 6:9 says: "Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up."

...May I encourage you to hold onto this verse as you seek to faithfully sow into the lives of your little ones? The harvest won't come today. And it won't come tomorrow. Maybe not even next year or the year after that.

But we must be faithful to sow today. Faithful to train. Faithful to teach. Faithful to discipline. Faithful to love. Or, as it says in this passage, faithful to "do good." And we must trust God that He will fulfill His promises, that we will reap a harvest in due season if we do not give up.

My expectations are not for today, or even tomorrow--but my hope is in God who has promised that, someday, my labors will bear fruit for Him. Even though my body is weary, my soul gains new strength from this promise.

I pray it strengthens you as well.

Saturday, May 02, 2009

I'm a "Kept" Woman!!

There have been times when I thought I would lose my mind, but God kept me sane. Isaiah 26:3 -

There were times when I thought I could go on no longer But the LORD kept me moving. (Gen 28:15)

At times, I’ve wanted to lash out at those whom I felt had done me wrong, but the Lord kept my mouth shut. (Ps 13)

Sometimes I think the money just isn’t enough, but God has helped me to keep the lights on, the water on, the car paid, the house paid, etc, (Matt 6:25-34

When I thought I would fall, He kept me up.

When I thought I was weak, He kept me strong! (1 Pet 5:7, Matt 11: 28-30)

Are you or do you know a ‘kept’ woman?

If so, pass it on to her to let them know they are ‘Kept.’

I am kept by the Love and Grace of God! I am indeed kept woman and praise God for it!

Please share this with someone in need of encouragement today.