Sula Bulungi

So in moments like I this, I do I have to stand back and smile. Miss E went to bed with a full belly, bright eyes and a sheepish smile. In her own way she expressed me, "Mama, I got this. I'll put myself to bed tonight." Where do I sign!!

Ten minutes later, this is how I found her!! Ellie definitely has to do things "her" way. =) 

Right now the nights are long. Long AND hard. With my sweet husband in AL I am most certainly missing his help in the wee small hours. And whew. Doing this singlehandedly - oh my. But even though the hard moments are there (like having a crying baby from 12-2 am) so are the {really sweet} moments like this that has me grateful for the thick and thin times that are meant to point us to Jesus and seek rest in Him. 

So even though I probably won't be sleeping much, I will take joy and rest!! In knowing that God IS giving me exactly what I need in this very moment.

Sula Bulungi abantu 

{7 Months} 03.31

Miss Ellie Jo turned 7 months old yesterday!! Time is definitely flying right before my very eyes. 

The latest tricks involve a few of these:

Crawling (since 6 months)

She magically taught herself how to wave - seriously what baby does that?!

Pulls up and goes along scooting the item is she holding onto (i.e. the couch, coffee table, me...)

Recognizes people in photographs

Her bottom left tooth is now poking through and to the right of that spot along with her upper twos look quite swollen!! 

Therefore, that means we are no longer waking up once a night anymore. Oh well. This season is short too. And thanks to teething she is quite the cranky, whiny baby with out bursts of tears and happiness. What? I get so confused. 

Daniel left {EARLY} Saturday morning to AL. We have been missing him terribly, but have been enjoying the time here in FW to soak up with our families and friends. 

Are you enjoying this BEAUTIFUL weather lately? Ellie is our little creation lover and really loves the outside nature. Daniel and I really appreciate that part of her. =) 

Happy Tuesday!!

First time on the swing. . . I think she {LOVED IT}

Springbreak|Surprises|Home

Finally.

Computer access.

This is Daniel's "Spring break". The funny thing is how they load him with lots of work, tests, homework the week before and the week after Spring break. Hence the reason for "Spring break". We were not sure if we would have the chance to make a trip to the FW area or not. Called my dad and told him, "We might be coming. Don't tell Mom. We don't want to disappoint her if we aren't able to make it out after all. Especially in the middle of tax season." 

Well, we successfully pulled it off. Actually, I was talking to my mom on our way out. =) We left at 4 pm (after Daniel got out of his first clinical), got turned around. Got back in the right direction, stopped for supper (Seafood of course!) and made it safely in to Kathryn and Layton's (my sister and bro in law) at 4 am. I have to hand it off to my wonderful hubby and trooper daughter of mine. Daniel drove the entire 12 hours after working at clinical and Ellie just keeps traveling along with her crazy parents. I am blessed!!

This week is going to rush by though. Birthdays to celebrate, family and friends to catch up with, Daniel is working with cows while he is here (which he LOVES to do), move/retrieve a few things from storage. Whew! Daniel will leave Saturday. Alone. He graciously accepted/allowed Ellie and I to remain here and make the road trip back to AL with his dad when he flies in from Israel. Oh happy day(s)! Needless to say, WE WILL MISS HIM TERRIBLY!! 

I am so grateful for Daniel and how he loves Texas, family, and Mexican food as much as I do. He told me he couldn't wait to make the road trip back home in May. He wanted to go now. =) 

So in the next few weeks I will try to upload pictures and play catch up. ALOT has happened. Can't wait to show you.

Stayed tuned for more.

But here are two pictures of Ellie. See how much she has already changed in 2.5 months?!

4 months old on the move to AL!

6.5 months old and enjoying the sunshine!

Deal of the week! 02.01

Okay. So everyone likes to find a good bargain - especially the women in my family. I just had to share my savings because I knew this would make them proud. ;o) 

Daniel's cousin Shelley and her 1 year old son met me in Fairhope to a children's consignment sale on Saturday morning (after my turn off road was shut down and the GPS decided that I already arrived to my destination when that was clearly not the case, but I did finally get there). We chose to go on Saturday because it was the last day of the consignment sale which means everything was discounted half off (unless marked otherwise). I already made a list of certain things I was on the lookout for. This makes things ALOT easier. I am always paranoid that I am purchasing something twice that I already have for Ellie. So here's what I walked away with [note the prices are compared to the closest item I could find from the same company].

Cosco Stroller - $9 vs. $37.06

BabyLegs leggings - $1 vs. $10

Gap yellow skinny jeans - $5 vs. $29.95

Little Me swimsuit - $2.50 vs. $29.50

iplay swim diaper - $1 vs. $12

Carter's Sunday dress - $1.50 vs. $23

Carter's romper - $1 vs. $11

Okie Dokie long shirt &

Okie Dokie jean skirt - $2.50 together vs. $12 each

REEF flip flops - $2 vs. $22

Old Navy shoes - $1.50 vs. $13
Activity Train block set - $2 vs. $60

So you might wonder what all this comes down to. I'm so glad you asked. ;o)

I spent: $29       Items bought full price: $271.51       Saved: $242.51

So for the price of Gap's skinny jeans, I got 11 other things. One of those things being a stroller!! 

I left a happy girl. Plus I got to eat a burger out for lunch with Shelley which was great.

What bargains did you walk away with this past weekend?

William Wilberforce

I've recently begun picking up reading again and have really enjoyed it. Since being married I didn't feel the "freedom" to take time to read knowing there are about a bajillion things to do. However, now that I have to sit down and feed a growing baby almost every 2 hours, I figure this would be a great opportunity to make a dent on my never-stop-adding-another-book list. =)                                                                                          So here I will try and write a brief overview from time to time on the books I've read. 

   Amazing Grace in the life of Wiliam Wilberforce/John Piper

Crossway Books, 2006, 76 pages long, Genre: Inspiration/Biography

John Piper does an excellent job of unfolding William Wilberforce's story. Throughout this short book, Piper reveals how joyful Wilberforce was throughout his life in Christ. Even in his battle to abolish the slavery (which lasted for 46 years of his life!! I cannot imagine the joy of seeing that prayer answered! *goosebumps*). He also suffered from other varies things: colon problem, lung problem, and his eyesight took a blow due to morphine poisoning (from opium he took for at least 31 years).* On top of all that, his wife Barbara was often depressed (she even worried herself into bad heath that lasted the remainder of her life), some of his children did not come to what Wilberforce calls, "the great change", and the death of his precious daughter. Wilberforce was a man of endurance. A man who ran well until he was called home. He is a vivid picture of what it looks like to set out and make a difference in the world for God. This book even reaffirmed my reasons of why I want to name a son after this man who was so passionately on fire for Christ (have to convince hubby hehe). 

Facts I did not know about Wilberforce before I read this book:

He refused to call himself a "Calvinist"

He found dueling offensive

He also developed curvature of the spine (which resulted in him wearing a brace underneath his clothing for the rest of his life which very few knew about!)

Wrote his own book A Practical View of Christianity (which I am dying to get my hands on)

I have also finished Sophie's Heart/Lori Wick I {LOVE} reading this book every 2ish years. Such a sweet story.

  

Believe it or not, I actually have a terrible reading habit of having multiple books going on at the same time (don't do this to yourself). 

Current readings:

The Life of Susannah Spurgeon (wife of Charles Spurgeon)/Charles Ray

Damsels in Distress/Martha Peace

The Forgotten God/Francis Chan

Craft-A-Day/Sarah Goldschadt

Kid's Crafternoon Felting/from crafters around the world selected by Kathreen Ricketson

Martha Stewart's Favorite Crafts for Kids

Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Sewing and Fabric Crafts

Weekend Handmade/Kelly Wilkinson

Whew! What book are you taking the time to read through right now?

*Noted, "he was often shabbily dressed, according to one friend, and his clothes sometimes were put on crookedly because he never looked into a mirror. Since his eyes were too bad to let him see his image clearly, he didn't bother to look at all!"

{5 months} 01.31

My little one is now 5 months old!! I cannot believe it. Does time really fly by THAT FAST?! Whew. I feel the need to become a "soaker" so all I do is absorb the surroundings about me. 

Ellie is now rolling over quite frequently these days. She started doing this more regularly almost 3 weeks ago. Ellie actually gets to places. Example: Yesterday Ellie got super quiet while Daniel and I ate lunch together. Daniel went and checked on her and she had rolled off her pallet, gotten a piece of paper and then rolled back over onto the pallet to then continue snacking on her beloved paper. Needless to say she was not thrilled when that was taken away from her.
About that same time she has started recognizing her own name and responds whenever we call her. 
She has developed a particular interest in her fingers now and loves to look at them as she intertwines her fingers together. So precious.

Ellie is getting better about sitting up. 

She notices when Daniel or I leave the room. And now lifts her little chubby hands up whenever she wants us to get her and has a little cry of desperation that goes along with that too. 

Her most prized trick lately is when she props herself up on her elbow to look around. :o) 

Ellie remains the most cheerful baby I have ever known (and I am not just saying that ;o). 
I am so grateful for her life.

Does time seem to run by you like it does for me?

Catch ups

At this point I have to admit, I am afraid to play "catch ups" in this post. I last blogged what? 5 months ago? I am getting real good at consistently updating. Bear with me as I do a brief summary of what time has been soaked up.

I was in good spirits even though August 25th came and went. I honestly did not expect baby Brantley to arrive yet (and was really grateful since my head midwife was out of town that weekend!). In brief, after nearly 64 hours of labor (who knew marathon labors existed right?!) I finally held my baby on 08.31 at 7:04 pm. What a sight she was since is a beauty!! Weighing 7 lbs 12 oz., 20 in" long, and her head measured 14.5" round. Our midwife Kelli noted during the newborn exam, "She has awesome muscle tone!"  Believe me, this little girl would after all the kicking, water aerobics, and belly flips she did inside me. 
We named her Emmanuelle Jo. 
We loved the name meaning "God is with us" and Jo is after 2 of her great grandmothers. We nicknamed her 'Ellie' which fits her like a glove.

09.23 came and went.
Daniel and I celebrated our 1st anniversary with our 3 week old baby at Uno's since he had never had deep dish pizza before (note booths are not deep enough to hold a crying baby-annoying). I think we stopped for coffee afterwards-I can't remember. 

10 held celebrations and tears for us.

I have now turned to an aged 24 and Daniel the great 25! Half way to 50!! One simple way decided to "go big" was give him a bag with 25 items in it. He really enjoyed the creativity and thought I put into it. The same week we did both our birthday bash we received a package telling us that Daniel finally got accepted (after trying for 3 years) into the Nursing program... In Alabama. 
A huge answer to prayer, but not one without tears as I knew this meant moving my family away "from home" once again. Hey. At least this time we have internet, cell phones with good connections (unlike before in my beloved jungles). We hope and pray God will bring us back to the FW area when the 18 months is up.

11.21-11.24 involved a really meaningful time with my special family.

My family has simple traditions. Not very many, but just enough to remember our family does this and that. Since my siblings got married my parents decided to try and plan a family vacation with all of us in place of Christmas gifts in 2012 (3 days after we returned from our honeymoon in WA). 
We ALL loved it so much my parents have decided to do this every year if everyone is able. I love new traditions. We traveled to a farm house in Glen Rose. It rained nearly the whole time, but that didn't stop the laughter, joy, new memories, and love we shared together. This year was bittersweet. With our time together shortening each day before we leave...
(hopes of next year being on the beaches in AL!!)

12 Daniel and I packed, loaded, moved, and packed some more.

12.13-12-22 involved a small family of 3 with a very tall brother in law of mine traveling overseas to see a dear person we love. 

Ellie and Nate's 1st time to fly. Ever. Daniel's 2nd time to fly. Ever. And can I just say this was the 1st time to fly internationally married with a 3 month old. Whole new ballgame since being single. 1 checked bag, 1 carry-on bag, and 3 personal bags. Hey. If there's no more room in the overhead compartment it's not my fault. Dad B was nervous about our travels with infant, but Ellie is a traveling champ (as you'll read more later). After all, she IS a Brantley baby. =) We drove nearly everyday to different parts of Israel. We saw Jerusalem, Mediterranean Sea, Sea of Galilee, Akko, Caesura, Bethlehem, Nazareth, and modern cities. The history there is astounding. Of course my favorite part was seeing my father in law. The visits and time we had together we're really sweet. He is coming back to the States in April. Can. Not. Wait.

12.23 we did a whirlwind of Christmas celebrations.

The Helms for brunch/afternoon and the Whitings for dinner/evening. I sure do love our family gatherings. I can never get enough of it. I'm really grateful Daniel feels the same way.

12.24 my small family loaded up again (but this time with Marmee and Poppee) to Newton, KS. Daniel and I felt it was important for us to make this trip. With the Nursing program being 18 months we knew our 2014 Christmas would be Texas and will most likely be 2 years before we are able to make another trip to KS. Everyone got to meet, love on and spoil Ellie with kisses and cuddles! 

12.29-12-31 was spent making a maddash of throwing, packing, and cramming everything away. Sigh. I DO NOT CARE TO REPEAT THIS PROCESS AGAIN. At least for the time being. It was  bittersweet to say goodbye to Apt. B who held some fond and not so fond memories. But through it all, it will be missed. Glad I will get to drive by it when going to CBC.

01.01.2014

My faucet leaked big time as my small family loaded up once more to put the miles and distance between here and there. 
I really dread crying. Since moving to AL God has blessed us with a church already and really at work. I am continually having to preach truth to myself and pray that God will change me. I long to have an attitude much like Ruth did when she left everything behind. 

01.30 Ellie is growing and changing so much. 

It is hard for me to watch sometimes because it is passing by so fast. I hate that our families are not here to watch it themselves. FaceTime helps some, but it is still not the same when you watch your dad hold her your baby to sleep and get Ellie to giggle. Or your mom listen to Ellie sing and share happy stories and sad stories. Or my father in law share memories of his own children doing the same thing Ellie is doing too. I miss those moments. . .

But God.

But God is still faithful. But God still knows exactly what He is doing today. But God still does what is the very best for me. But God still provides for our needs.

But God.

I have to remind myself in those tiny moments when time seems overwhelming and no one is near - But God.