What's in a name...

I really can't say enough about these two precious little ones that I share my days with. There are countless fun moments that I hope I take advantage of while they are at this stage in their lives. I love the way that God created them. When Joe and I were thinking about baby names, we wanted to give each child a name that would be special for them. We wanted the name to have a meaning that would be Biblical, but also relate to the kind of person they might be. We obviously had no idea what kind of personality they would have, but I really think that God led us to the right names for our children.
Our first, we named Sophia Abigail. I loved the name Sophie for quite a while. I've always thought it was so cute and feminine. I'd never really known what it meant. Sophia is from the Greek meaning wisdom. We prayed that Sophie would have wisdom...not just earthly wisdom, but wisdom from the Lord. Joe really liked the name Abigail. He got this from the story in the Bible when Abigail helped David and his men. Through her wisdom and service to David, she saved the life of her husband and family. We have really seen this name suit Sophie well. She has a lot of earthly wisdom in her young life (knowing things like her ABC's at a young age, talking well, etc), but we can see that God is also doing things in her little heart. Just the other day I was talking to her about how I hoped that one day she would let Jesus in her heart and make her heart clean and fresh. She said, I want to ask Jesus in my heart. I said, really? She said, yes. I told her that you have to pray to ask Jesus in your heart. Then she just said, Thank you, Jesus. I was amazed. I know she didn't understand at this age what it truly meant to surrender your life to Jesus, but I think the Lord is softening her heart and already making her sensitive to spiritual things. It is a blessing to see. She is a blessing!

When we got pregnant for the second time, I was truly content with the thought of having a girl or a boy. It really didn't matter to either Joe or I. If we had a boy, though, I loved the name Isaac. Before we knew what Sophie was going to be, we had both liked the name Isaac if we were to have a boy. So, when we found out we were having a boy, we had the name already picked out! Isaac means laughter, but he was also the first born son of Abraham and the son of a promise from God to Abraham. We prayed before we had children that God would allow us to have children and grandchildren, future generations, of family that would serve Him. Isaac's middle name is Joseph. This is after his father, but also the story in the Bible of Joseph. It's interesting to see how Isaac has developed in his little personality. He is full of smiles, that cute little six-toothed smile, and he will cut those little eyes over at me and grin...and I just melt! He is full of energy and mischief. His current favorite thing to do is play with the tv buttons. As I was typing this, he threw a bath toy in the toilet and I caught him right before he stuck his hand in. We're in for some adventures with this little guy!

I'm so thankful for my little treasures. God has blessed us!

Expectations...

I am so happy that we have our internet back. Let's just say that about a week ago, I was not this cheerful. In fact, and I hate to admit it, I was tearful. I thought that I was going to be cut off from the outside world. I wouldn't have facebook, email, internet...kind of seems silly now. It's amazing how much I've become dependent on this little machine. It's a powerful thing. As a stay-at-home-mom, many of my days are spent inside keeping children fed, entertained, and warm from the cold temperatures outside. I appreciate the fact that I'm able to do that, but at the same time, it can get a little isolating. One of my solutions...the internet! So I was expecting Mr. MediaCom guy to come knocking on our door last Friday to hook us up with a higher speed internet. We found a deal that was actually cheaper than the lower speed we had. I was pretty pumped about this! Cable internet! Our old provider was supposed to keep us hooked up until Friday, but they cut us off Wed. night. So I was already a little edgy. Friday came around and the guy couldn't find our house. We missed the window of opportunity. I was not a happy camper.

I survived, though. The guy came on Wed. of this week and got it all set up. Less than a week, people. That's pretty bad that I was struggling. After the first day, though, I realized...I can make it. It was actually a good thing. As great as the internet can be, it's not the most important thing. I got more rest, I spent less time sitting around, I spent more time doing some other things I enjoy that I've neglected, and also spent more time exercising. Overall, I think it was a good thing that I had this happen. It made me realize, other than how I spend my time, that I struggle when my expectations aren't met. It's kind of hard to admit a weakness, but this is definitely one of mine. I see it in several different areas. And I think it has gotten worse since my single days. As a mom and wife, I count on things being done, staying on a routine, planning out my days, etc. When there's a glitch, it's hard for me to recover. This is something I want to work on. I want to become more flexible and try to "go with the flow" a little more. I always thought I was pretty good at that back in my single days (maybe I had a little pride in that?!). God is showing me more and more who I am now and the kind of woman, wife, and mother He wants me to be. Lord, please help me!

But here I am tonight. It's late, and I'm "catching up" on the internet. Go to bed, Stacey!
God bless,

The gift of wisdom

These past couple of weeks, and even today, God has reminded me of the gift of having wise people in my life. I'm thinking a lot about women that God has put in my life who are in a stage in life that is beyond mine. When I was single, it was women who were married or dating that had advice for me when I might be in that stage. As a married woman, and I still consider myself to be a young married woman, it's being around women who have children older than mine or grown that can give me advice. I hope that makes sense. Basically, I'm thankful for the encouraging words, the prayers, the advice that has been given to me over the years that has impacted me in an amazing way. My prayer is that I will continue to be teachable to the women God will put in my life. I have so much to learn! I feel very blessed, though!

Thank you, God, for putting friends and loved ones in my life to teach me how to be a better wife and mother!

Special times with our little man

Isaac finally got some birthday cake! He missed it at his party. He was snoozing away at cake time. But we had one piece left and I just knew that it needed to be little man's. So I put the little piece on his tray and he immediately grabbed it and started going to town. He LOVED it! He ate all he could get his little fingers on!

Here's our guy on his actual birthday, January 26th. I can't believe it's been a year already. I think it's the fastest year of my life! I hope I didn't miss anything!

Here's Isaac getting his first haircut! He did so well! He didn't cry or complain at all. The top picture is the finished result. I just didn't have the patience to try and rearrange the pictures : ). Isn't this the cutest little haircut?!

We love our little man!

Blessings to you!

craft therapy

I don't know about some of you out there, but when I've got a lot going on I need an outlet. Well, with the kids having a birthday party, this is a great opportunity to get my creative on. I loved painting these little Wendy's and Peter Pan's for the cupcakes and as a party favor for our visitors. I will also say that I didn't come up with this on my own. I like being crafty, but I also like getting cool ideas from other people. I found this on another mom's blog that did this for her son's birthday. Why reinvent the wheel? But, I did do the other characters that were on the birthday cake on my own. So I'm not a total copy-cat : ).

Blessings to you!