Still...

...waiting. Maybe she will come today...

Now we Need a Date

So we think we finally have the name for this little girl. We are waiting for her to come before we announce it (mostly because we have changed our minds SO MANY times on her name, that we don't want to commit prematurely :-).

So now all we need is to figure out her birth-date. Any one want to suggest a day? My preference would be today, mostly because it isn't tomorrow :-)

She is due the 20th, but who knows!

Lizzie Loves to Organize

Lizzie has always loved to organize. At 1 she would spend what seemed like hours straightening my kitchen towels. Now she does things like making her sister's bed because she just can't handle the way Ellie does it (we are working on this, since she needs to be ok with her sister's ways of doing certain things, but funny none the less). Over the summer we spent our Saturday mornings at the local Saturday market where my sister (Melissa) and her roomie (Bethany) sold folding memory books. After watching these lovely ladies set up and reset up their display each week, she began to duplicate it in her playing:


Of course she used Gracie's toys, since we wouldn't want to have our own toys for sale :-)

Note: If you are interested Melissa and Bethany have been hard at work for the holiday season and are not only preparing their books, but some wonderful baskets filled with a variety of things based on theme (Christmas, Dora, baby boy or girl, gingerbread fun, etc). They will be at a number of bazaars and even the Thornton's Treeland in the next month or 2.

A Little Behind

Yeah, I know, it has been far too long since I last posted here. Soon enough we will be posting pictures of our latest pink wearing kiddo, so I thought I better get caught up a bit before she comes and I get behind again :-)

The following are some pictures of Lizzie and Ellie's bunk-bed (thanks Brewsters). I girlified it with some paint, fabric and fake flowers. It was a fun project, and although it doesn't look nearly this nice regularly, it was still worth the work.

We need a Name Still

So I realized that I haven't given enough info to help with getting some good baby girl names. We want a name that will flow well with the 3 older girls names. Here are their names:

Elizabeth Blair (means: consecrated to God)
Eliana Joy (means: God has answered with Joy)
Malina Grace (means: Tower of Grace or Raspberry Grace if you go with the Russian :-)

Since they all are 3 syllables, that would be the easiest way to make them all 4 flow well. And since the older 2 both have "E-l-i" at the start of their names, we thought it might be fun to have the younger 2 have "M"s. Though, we are flexible, so any baby girl names, that seem to fit well along side her big sisters' names, would be great. What are your favorites??? Oh, and meaning is still a must.

Names

So we are still struggling to come up with a name for this little girl. We are thinking an "M" name, with hopefully 3 syllables. That goes well with a single syllable middle name. Originally we were thinking a Hebrew name, but can't seem to find one, so as long as it has a great meaning. Any ideas? :-)

Pain Worse than Death

I have felt a lot of pain over the last several years. The pain of giving birth, of gallstones, and of kidney stones (yeah, I know, there must be a joke there somewhere, but I can't seem to find it). I have also suffered pain that cuts deeper than any surgeons tool can reach...the pain brought on by losing a loved one. In each moment of pain, I can remember thinking things like, "Nothing could hurt worse than this" or "I just can't get through... it hurts too much". And inevitably God would get me through it and eventually show me that there are worse types of pain.

It has now been just over 9 months since I lost my mom to cancer, and that pain is still present, still aching and tugging at me. Just after she went to be with the LORD, I thought, "Surely there is nothing more painful than losing someone close to you to such an awful disease." Well, I was wrong. There is a pain that exists in this world that has the ability to go far deeper than that of loss through death. It is the pain of sin. Sin can damage the very depths of your soul, whether it is your own sin or that of someone you love. It can paralyze you, unable to move forward or backward. If it is your own sin it can poison every part of your person, creating other sins along the way, like a disease of the soul. If it is the sin of another it can bring about a grief that cannot be matched or "out done" except by One.

As I have begun to feel this strange and yet familiar pain, I have seen the destruction and agony in the lives of others as well. I have seen what it is to look on a person who is suffering the pain of another's choices. It is an ugly pain. A heavy pain. The pain of an ungodly act causing a godly pain. I cannot begin to describe this awful suffering, and yet I know that it is minuscule compared to that which Our Savior suffered for us. If one sin can hurt so deeply, how much more so the sins of the world. The pain He endured for us is unfathomable. It is more than any of us would be able to handle, and that is why it had to be Him. It could only be Christ who bore that unspeakably heavy burden. I am so grateful He did, and so humbled that He loved me enough to endure such pain for each one of my agony inducing sins.

''Father,

Thank You. I am so overwhelmed at what You have done for me. To send Your Son, knowing what He would experience and how deeply He would suffer. All so that people like me, who can and do cause such great suffering, might have life. If it were me I would have said forget it and let those pain-inflictors suffer their own fates. Yet, another reason I am so thankful that You are in control and not me. Thank You for loving me so deeply that You would give so much for me. I am humbled, and honored to be Yours."

Always quotable Ellie

After already going to bed (knowing that Steph had made cookie dough), Ellie comes out and says:

"Mommy, would you be willing to make cookie dough for us for dessert after breakfast in the morning?"

To Buy or Not to Buy

So we have been considering buying a home lately. Mainly we have been "discussing the idea", but now we are starting to consider it more seriously. The catch is we have ZERO money for a down payment, or any other fees, etc. and we know next to nothing about buying a home.

Any advice???

Lyrics to Ponder

"A shapeless piece of steel, that's all I claim to be
This hammer pounds to give me form, this flame, it melts my dreams
I glow with fire and fury, as I'm twisted like a vine
My final shape, my final form I'm sure I'm bound to find

So dream a little, dream for me in hopes that I'll remain
And cry a little, cry for me so I can bear the flames
And hurt a little, hurt for me my future is untold
But my dreams are not the issue here, for thee, the hammer holds

And the water, it cools me gray, and the hurt's subdued somehow
I have my shape, this sharpened point, what is my purpose now?
And the question still remains, what am I to be?
Perhaps some perfect piece of art displayed for all to see

So dream a little, dream for me in hopes that I'll remain
And cry a little, cry for me so I can bear the flames
And hurt a little, hurt for me my future is untold
But my dreams are not the issue here, for thee, the hammer holds

The hammer pounds again, but flames I do not feel
This force that drives me, helplessly, through flesh, and wood reveals
A burn that burns much deeper, it's more than I can stand
The reason for my life was to take the life of a guiltless man

So dream a little, dream for me in hopes that I'll remain
And cry a little, cry for me so I can bear the pain
And hurt a little, hurt for me, my future is so bold
But my dreams are not the issue here, for thee, the hammer holds

This task before me may seem unclear
But it, my maker holds"

From: http://www.musicbabylon.com


Thank you Father for artists like Bebo Norman, and the way their lyrics/music draw me closer to you and your truth.