Project 366: Day 43 [March 30th]

This morning started out normal.

I got Natalie up and ready to go home with her Momma! Kenton (the new little boy I am baby sitting) came over about the same time. His mommy left to go to work, Natalie's Mommy came to get her. She stayed here for a little bit and sniffed scentsy and all of that good stuff, then she packed up their stuff and headed out the door.

About 2 minutes later, I heard a knock at the door and it was Natalie's Mommy. She said her car wouldn't start. I called Ethan and told him what the car was doing and he said it sounded like her battery.

Since neither one of us know what we're doing when it comes to ANYTHING remotely related to cars, I did the only logical thing and called my dad. Fortunately, he had a client cancel and he came over to help us out. He tried charging it...

And that didn't work :( We weren't sure what was going on with it! So, Papaw came inside because he had to go back to work, but he wanted to give some lovin's to Tayler before he left.

She had JUST woke up (sleepy head!) and we thought her hair looked so stinkin' cute!

She's so precious when she just wakes up. We always have a morning ritual where we sing 'Good morning, Good morning, Good morning it's time to get out of bed! Good morning, good morning, good morning, wake up you sleepy head!' She loves it :)

So needless to say, Brittany was stuck, haha. We made tons of phone calls to get things fixed and to get her home. I couldn't take her with a car.. and three kids that needs car seats haha! We were a mess, but how cute were the kids? They were all having a blast together!

Of course, 'Yo Gabba Gabba' was on! They all love it!

And eventually, Brittany went home. Her car is still sitting in our drive way though, haha ;) Sadly, a fuse blew, so they have to wait til Monday to get the part! 

After they left, I just sat here and took in the date. I'm a huge person when it comes to that kind of stuff. I love thinking about what was going on 'a year ago' and thinking about all of the feelings and emotions that went with it.

8:30AM... a year ago today.. my water broke. Here's a picture of me right before heading to the hospital:

Yes. Super attractive. Not matching and my belly is hanging out ;) That's 38 weeks, 6 days pregnant.

Tayler was ready.

I'll never forget that moment. I woke up as normal and got up out of bed. The bed was soaked. I thought I'd peed the bed, but as I got up, it just kept coming. And I'm going to be gross, but honest here: It had an odd smell to it! I just had that gut feeling it was my water. I grabbed my cell phone and called my mom and told her I thought my water had just broke. She said, 'Call the nurses line and see what they tell you do' because I wasn't even having ANY contractions at the time.

I called the nurses line and this is how our conversation went:

Me: 'Hello, I think my water just broke.'
Nurse: 'Oh my word. Okay. Where are you?'
Me: 'I am at home alone.'
Nurse: 'Stay calm. Let me try and get a hold of your doctor and tell him you're in premature labor.'

(I pause..)
Me: 'If you go anytime before 40 weeks, it's premature?'
Nurse: 'No. If you were 37 weeks, this wouldn't be a huge deal.'
Me: 'I'm confused. I didn't even tell you how far along I was? I'm 39 weeks tomorrow...'
(Awkward silence)
Nurse: 'Oh my word! I'm still thinking about the lady that just called in! Hunny, CONGRATULATIONS!!! That's wonderful news! Nothing to be alarmed about! Get on in to the hospital. You're having a baby!'

hahaha. Hilarious.

I then called Ethan. I said, 'Are you ready to be a Daddy?' And he was like, 'Are you serious?' I proceeded to tell him my water broke and I swear, he didn't even tell me good ye before he was on the road! Then we called my dad because I was 35-40 minutes from both parents and an hour from Ethan.. and in labor! haha! My dad hurried up and left work and got there as quick as he could. I swear, Ethan got home in about 40 minutes! He was QUICK. We came inside. I tried to get contractions going by laying on  my left side. We made sure we had everything and we were out the door!

It was snowing outside! And I had the air on in the Ford Focus, haha! Ethan was like 'I am absolutely freezing, Alyssa!' But I was so nervous I needed air in my face! At noon, they confirmed it was my water that broke and I was admitted.

Our baby was coming. Ready or not! We told everyone the news and we got ready to go!

As time passed, they gave me pitocin to get my contractions going because I was having trouble progressing myself. Time drug by. She still wasn't here at 8PM. I remember that time clearly because 'American Idol' was on. It was a Wednesday night and they were performing, but I missed just about all of them. Contractions were getting a little more difficult at this time, but I still wasn't dilated enough to get the epidural. 

Those contractions were rough. Everyone was taking shifts, holding my hands, and helping me breathe. (Everyone included Ethan, my mom, my dad, and Makala!) I ate banana popsicles that tasted amazing because I hadn't ate in such a long time.

By midnight, there was still no progress. My doctor assured me a c-section would likely be in my future...

And I will share the rest of the story with you tomorrow.. ON HER BIRTHDAY! :)

After thinking about old times.. we got ready to go!

We went grocery shopping with Gigi, then we headed to our friend's Alberto and Laura's house! They were having a cook-out there and we were so excited! It was storming like crazy out and tornado warnings were on the Weather Channel, but we did it anyway, haha! Alberto cooked some amazing tilapia and steak.. we also had salsa and chips, potato salad, macaroni salad, rice, and carrot cake. It was just wonderful! Tayler had a blast too! She played barbies with their 5 year old and almost the entire time! :)

I think Tayler thought she was SO big, haha! Their little girl did too! She said:

'How old is Tayler?'

I said: 'She's 1'

To which she replied, 'Oh my gosh. I am so much bigger than her. I am 5!' 

hahahah! She was cracking us up! 

We had such a good time, but we were beat! We had a loooooong day today, haha! We came home and crashed! Hope you all had a wonderful day!

Cheers to Project 366!

Project 366: Day 42 [March 29th]

Good morning bloggers! I'm seriously behind on my project 366, so let me catch up real quick! This is the update for March 29th, 2012 :)

We woke up this morning and realized...

it was Tayler's Uncle Jon's birthday!

So, we sent him a text with a picture of Tayler eating breakfast that said 'Happy Birthday' on it :) We think he liked it!

Of course, she couldn't stop and look at the camera, haha! She was too busy with 'Yo Gabba Gabba' but I think it's still adorable!! :)

After that, we got Tayler all cleaned up and dressed and we took her picture. Today marked Tayler being 52 weeks old! Yes, Project 52 is completed! And in 2 days, our baby is a year old!

She was a tad cranky. She woke up at 7AM.. so, needless to say, nap time soon followed, haha!

I spent most of the day reminiscing about today... a year ago..

I ate cake batter ice cream at Dari Twist. And I SWEAR, that was what put me into labor ;) Some might not agree, but it's just a feeling I have, haha! This was the last night of being pregnant. Well, the last complete night. I thought I'd show y'all a picture of Ethan and me a year ago today. You can see how 'large' I was, haha!

Cute lil belly, haha!

After that, I heard Tayler, but I couldn't find Tayler. And guess where she was??

STUCK IN THE CHAIR.

Yes. Trying to break free. She was trying to climb through that opening there and got stuck, haha! I told her 'That's what you get.' ;) LOL Tough love here! haha!

She's so precious!

And we watched 'American Idol' tonight! Okay-- I was super close on the bottom 3. I said 'Hollie, DeAndre, and Heejun' and it was 'Heejun, Hollie, and Skylar' (which I don't agree with Skylar at all!!!) BUT, I said DeAndre was going home.. and Heejun went. But that's alright. I agree with America's decision!

And here's Tayler watching it with us:

Isn't she precious? :)

We had a great day today!

And we are done with the 31 days of prayer! We'll see what we can do next ;)

Cheers to Project 366!

Weekly Meal Plan [4/2-4/6]

Monday: Meatball Subs/Fries
Tuesday: Homemade Stromboli dipped in pizza sauce
Wednesday: Cook-Out (Burgers/Baked Potatoes)
Thursday: Two Timin' Pasta Bake/Salads
Friday: Sausage Biscuits/Gravy

What's on the list for your meals this upcoming week?

Project 366: Day 41 [March 28th]

Good morning bloggers! 

I thought I'd start off with a picture of my sweetheart. She usually gets in bed with me after Ethan goes to work and I just love it, hehe! She sleeps like such a big girl, it honestly cracks me up. This is how she was when I woke up this morning:

Is she not the cutest thing ever? *sigh* I just adore her!

After that, we came downstairs and played in her play room! Well, sometimes Tayler gets extremely independent and doesn't want me playing with her, haha, so I settled in with the '16 and Pregnant' from the previous night.

Okay, seriously ladies-- lets be honest here-- who watches this show?

I am not ashamed to admit it. I do. I find it extremely interesting and it makes me think about my own daughter and what will happen when she gets older.

I'm not naive enough to think that she won't contemplate sex. It's in our human nature. And I refuse to make her believe sex is a 'bad' thing. It is a beautiful thing. It's an intimate moment between a man and a woman. I'm also not naive enough to think that everyone in this world waits until marriage. I don't want to hide things from my daughter. I want to be open with her. I want to speak from my heart. Some believe birth control is a 'negative' thing.. that it allows young people to have sex. But lets just be real-- weren't you curious when you were younger? If we took a vote on how many individuals waited until they were married when they had sex, I'm sure we'd have slim-pickin's. What if we took a vote on how many individuals waited until they were out of high school? College? Less and less... and since there's curiosity in everyone, I'd rather my daughter be prepared, than pregnant at 16. I wasn't a teen mother when I had my child, but I was in a 'new' relationship. I had been dating her father for almost 5 months when I saw those two blue lines. We had just moved in together..  in to a one bedroom apartment. Fortunately, we had a relationship that lasted. Fortunately, everything worked out for us. But that isn't always the case for some people. And not only do I not want my daughter to be a teen mother, I don't want her to carry baggage around with her either. That's why I want to talk to her about how intimate sex is. I don't want her to have the baggage of past sexual partners. Maybe it doesn't matter to some people in this world, but I know for my husband and myself.. our past partners were an obstacle we had to get over. It was hard to know that the love of our lives shared that moment with another individual. Something we had to get past. I just pray that Tayler will understand it's beauty.. and if she's still curious, I still want to be prepared. There's my two cents ;) Hope y'all don't mind me throwing that in there!

After that, I looked over to my right at the recliner and I saw Tayler had a realization. She was standing by the fire place and I knew she saw it. I knew she realized freedom was within her reach. And she sought after it.. and succeeded. Yes, she saw there was a small opening between the chairs we were using as gates and the wall....

Yes, her little body fit through that. And yes, she escaped, haha! This is what I saw when I finally got up..

Getting in to everything. Ornery as can be, I tell you!

Guess what else happened today? 

I finished 'The Hunger Games!'

SUCH a good book! I can totally tell what the fuss was all about, let me tell you! I couldn't put it down today! I read almost 200 pages. Yes, that's how good it was, haha! I'm finally moving on to 'Catching Fire' and I cannot wait to read it already!

Loved it! Have any of you read it? How'd you like it? Now I'm anxious to watch the movie! :)

And I had to show a picture of Tayler. We've been working our way out of bottles and into sippy cups. She is doing phenomenal through the day time. She doesn't have milk or juice in a bottle at all.. but at night, just before bed, it's like she thinks she HAS to have one, haha! Hopefully we'll fix that, but other than that.. she's doing amazing! I am so proud of her :) She is such a big girl!

Isn't she cute? I fall in love with that little piggy tail every single day! :)

And guess who came to visit?

Yep, you guessed it! Pap and Gigi! Here's Pap playing with Tayler-Bug on the floor! They were having a blast!

He just loves her and she absolutely loves him :)

After that, we settled in with the girls. We were baby sitting tonight and so we let them play while we watched 'American Idol.' This picture cracked me up because Tayler was playing 'Peek-a-Boo' with Natalie and she was cracking up.

And then they had a team effort to steal my Sprite hahaha! How cute is that?

Are they ornery or what? ;)

And yes, now for some 'American Idol' chit chat! Did anyone watch last night? Who are your favorites? Who's performance did you enjoy the best?

My favorites are Colton Dixon and Jessica Sanchez. I would love to see them in the finale. Colton sang with such compassion for God last night, it was overwhelming. And Jessica, well, she can just sing! 

I also loved Skylar Laine's performance of 'Gunpowder and Lead' last night. (I want to make that my ringtone now ;)) Elise Testone worked the crowd and did amazing! And Joshua did great too!

I think the bottom 3 will be:

1. Heejun Han
2. DeAndre Brackensick
3. Hollie Cavanaugh

and I think DeAndre is going home

But I'm always wrong about these things, haha!

And now for our last prayer!

Pray that your husband will recognize the lies of the Enemy in his life. Pray that his attitudes and actions will be guided by the truth as he brings his thoughts into captivity to the Word of God. (John 8:44; 2 Cor. 10:4-5)
(Source)

And the Bible scriptures that go along with this are as follows:

John 8:42-47 (The Message) If God were your father," said Jesus, "you would love me, for I came from God and arrived here. I didn't come on my own. He sent me. Why can't you understand one word I say? Here's why: You can't handle it. You're from your father, the Devil, and all you want to do is please him. He was a killer from the very start. He couldn't stand the truth because there wasn't a shred of truth in him. When the Liar speaks, he makes it up out of his lying nature and fills the world with lies. I arrive on the scene, tell you the plain truth, and you refuse to have a thing to do with me. Can any one of you convict me of a single misleading word, a single sinful act? But if I'm telling the truth, why don't you believe me? Anyone on God's side listens to God's words. This is why you're not listening—because you're not on God's side."

2 Corinthians 10:3-6 (The Message)  The world is unprincipled. It's dog-eat-dog out there! The world doesn't fight fair. But we don't live or fight our battles that way—never have and never will. The tools of our trade aren't for marketing or manipulation, but they are for demolishing that entire massively corrupt culture. We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ. Our tools are ready at hand for clearing the ground of every obstruction and building lives of obedience into maturity. 

Dear Jesus, thank You for my sweet and kind husband that I love so much! You have truly blessed me in every sense of the word! I just ask that you remove the enemy from his life. When the enemy comes in with a distraction or a tactic, let him realize it and pray it away! I pray that he reads Your Word and falls in love with it and allows it to protect him! Let him bring all of his thoughts to You! We love You Lord! In Your name, Amen!

God bless you all

and cheers to Project 366!

Project 366: Day 40 [March 27th]

Good morning bloggers!!

Guess what came in the mail today??

EEEEK.

New clothes!

I forgot to post about ordering these not too long ago. I seem to like clothing online more than I do IN the store. Is that weird? I just think I like the clothes better. But Ethan sold a vehicle last week, so we agreed that I could purchase a few new summer clothes with some of it :) I was so excited! I bought some new ones last year, but I had just had Tayler so they were a bit 'larger' than what I needed this year (THANK GOD!) Yes, it took me about 9 months to shed all of that body weight, but hey-- they say you don't put it on over night, you won't get it off over night. Unless you're really lucky or good, I suppose, haha!

But anyways.

I purchased a new pink dress that I just love! I love wearing little dresses in the Summer! I also purchased 3 new pairs of shorts, 2 new tank tops, a pair of sandals (classy ones, you know? Not flip flops! I wear those too often, haha!), and a new bathing suit! HOLLA! I actually feel confident in this one! Thank the Lord. Last year, I hid under a piece because, well, as I said, I just had Tayler and I was super embarrassed. (I know now, it's beauty marks, not stretch ;)) But I feel MUCH better this year!

Now.. lets just get these warmer temperatures back and I can wear them, haha!

After that, I caught up on 'Secret Life of the American Teenager.' It premiered Monday night and of course, Ethan doesn't like it, haha, so I waited to watch it today. Did anyone else watch it? This show.. I can't stand some things about it, but it's like I still HAVE to watch it. Is that weird? haha! I think Amy is smart with not wanting to get married immediately. She is in high school still, you know? I was impressed with Adrian being honest with Dante. Grace should have been honest with Daniel. And what the heck is up with Ben? Like he thought it would be alright to smoke pot in his dad's house? Okay. Next week should be interesting to say the least..

After I caught up on that, it was reading time. I'm in the middle of reading 'The Hunger Games' and it is as addicting as everyone says it is! I honestly read 151 pages yesterday. I'm on page 251! :) It is SO good! I can't wait to finish. I'm actually thinking about it right now.. willing myself to finish this blog to read it! And yes, I had a little buddy with me while reading. She napped, I imagined Katniss and Rue in the forest. It was a good day!

Once E got home, we went to our favorite Mexican restaurant. I wasn't in the mood to cook tonight and we had both been talking about the food there for quite some time, so we went ahead and went. I got my usual-- fajita chimichanga that comes with refried beans, rice, guacamole, sour cream, pico de galla, and queso cheese. YUM! :) I even share with Tayler. She absolutely loves it!

See her little scrape under her nose? It's healing, but poor thing. It looks just miserable. I feel so bad for her! :( But on a positive note-- how cute does she look in that jacket? Her Papaw and Gigi bought it for her for her birthday! :)

When we got home, we hung out outside for a little bit. She walked around and got in to everything, hahahaha, and I sat in the porch swing watching E work on some things outdoors :) She loves being outside.. and pitches a fit coming in. It's cute ;) haha!

Once coming inside, we spent some time with some friends and we settled in to catch up on 'GCB.' It's on Sunday nights, but it's on at 10PM and honestly-- we are rarely up that late, haha! So it gets taped and watched at a later date. But we couldn't get into it at first because Tayler kept wandering out to the kitchen! So, Ethan decided to put up his own version of a 'gate' since the opening is too big for a gate!

I know she'll eventually learn how to climb over it, but it works for now, haha!

Do any of you watch 'GCB?' I just love it! 

I think Cricket and her husband have the 'weirdest' relationship, but I suppose it works for them. She does truly love him though, you can tell by her jealousy of Amanda. Carlene actually showed having a true heart when she put Amanda's laptop back! But she still manipulated information out of her, which doesn't surprise me, haha! What did y'all think of this episode?

We had such a good day today!

And now for the prayer today: (Tomorrow's the last day!)

Pray that your husband will serve God and others with pure motives. Pray that he will obey the Lord from his heart, and glorify Him in everything. (1 Cor. 10:13; John 7:17-18; Col. 3:23-24)
(Source)

And the scriptures that go along with it are as follows:

1 Corinthians 10:13 (The Message) No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he'll never let you be pushed past your limit; he'll always be there to help you come through it.

John 7:16-19 (The Message) Jesus said, "I didn't make this up. What I teach comes from the One who sent me. Anyone who wants to do his will can test this teaching and know whether it's from God or whether I'm making it up. A person making things up tries to make himself look good. But someone trying to honor the one who sent him sticks to the facts and doesn't tamper with reality. It was Moses, wasn't it, who gave you God's Law? But none of you are living it. So why are you trying to kill me?"

Colossians 3:22-25 (The Message) Servants, do what you're told by your earthly masters. And don't just do the minimum that will get you by. Do your best. Work from the heart for your real Master, for God, confident that you'll get paid in full when you come into your inheritance. Keep in mind always that the ultimate Master you're serving is Christ. The sullen servant who does shoddy work will be held responsible. Being a follower of Jesus doesn't cover up bad work. 

Dear Jesus, thank You for my husband and all that he is to us! Please bless him and help him to obey You regardless of what comes his way. Please help him to trust You and serve You with his whole heart. Please let him have a pure motive to serve You the best he can and to serve others the best he can. I know he might not get the appreciation from others that he deserves, but please help him to remember that when he serves others, he serves You! We love You, Jesus! In Your name, Amen!

God bless you all

and cheers to Project 366!

Project 366: Day 39 [March 26th]

Good morning bloggers! :)

Our morning started off... busy, haha! I knew I had a lot to get done before my dentist appointment at 12:45, so I got started immediately (well, after doing my blog posting of course ;)) 

This is going to sound absolutely TERRIBLE, but I had 6 loads of laundry to do! Talk about laziness last week, haha! I was just so preoccupied with getting everything for Tayler's 1st birthday party that I really neglected a lot of things around the house! So, I got the laundry done, did a load of dishes, cleaned up a bit, gave Tayler ANOTHER bath (she got her breakfast everywhere, haha), checked E's paper before he submitted it, and got both of us ready. We were out the door at 12:28. A little later than I wanted, but we made it on time and that's the key! :)

Remember when I got my wisdom teeth out February 12th? It was just to check up on that! I was a nervous wreck as I always am when it comes to any kind of doctor's appointment LOL but it went smoothly! As soon as I walked through the door, they were ready for me. I went back, one lady cleaned out my 'wounds' with some mouth wash thing, the doctor came in, checked on my healing and said, 'You must be one healthy lady for your body to heal as quick and as good as it is!' (YAY!) He said everything looks good, but where I had two teeth taken out in one section, the opening is still rather large, so he gave me a little pink paper to remind me that I can't have popcorn for another 6 weeks :( That sucks. I was really looking forward to getting cleared for it! But oh well.

So, I took this picture of me holding that lovely pink paper and if you look closely you can see I'm wearing a COAT. Yes my friends, we had 80 degree weather last week and this week... 50 degrees. I was freezing. And guess what? I kept that coat on my entire appointment. That's surprising, honestly, since I usually wear tank tops to any appointment because I hate being hot and nervous. God is good! He kept me in total peace and I appreciate it more than He could ever imagine! 

Then, it was time to start making some dinner! Tonight on the menu was: BREAKFAST CASSEROLE!

I think I've posted about this before, but oh well, I sure don't mind sharing it again! :)

Here's what you need:

a bag of shredded hash browns, a pound of sausage, 12 slices of bacon, 6 scrambled eggs, 2 packets of sausage gravy... 

Go ahead and lower a 13X9 casserole dish with frozen shredded hashbrowns..

Start scrambling your eggs, browning your sausage, and boiling the water for your sausage gravy (just follow the directions on the packets for that! I bought mine from Walmart in the spices section!)

Once that is done, heat up the bacon (I bought the kind you could heat up in the microwave.) I like to get mine REALLY crispy! Then just add it all together. I layered mine with the scrambled eggs over the hashbrowns (I only put scrambled eggs on Ethan's half.. I don't like eggs! Weirdo! haha!), then the sausage, then the sausage gravy, then I sprinkle the bacon over the top and voila...

Bake it at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes. Only thing you need to check is the hashbrowns in the middle to make sure that they are completely done before serving! :) We served ours with toast and jelly. I like the sweet/spicy combination. Tayler enjoyed it too! Hope you all enjoy if you make it!! :)

After that, Tayler and I had play time while Daddy worked out! :) We played in her tent. We had a blast. She thinks it's absolutely hilarious when I play in there with her :) And I love to hear that laugh!

Can you see my head peeking out? haha!

After that, Tayler kept walking into the kitchen and crying and grabbing the window sill like she wanted to get up it. So, I picked her up and she saw the kids next door playing on the trampoline, hehe :) So, I put her in her high chair with some snacks and let her watch the kids! She was LOVING it! :)

While she was watching the kids, I read 'The Hunger Games.' I'm probably getting through it slower than others I know that read it, but I read 70 pages yesterday which is the most I have read in awhile, haha! SUCH a good book! I'm anxious to get started on it yet again! :) 

Oh... and I caught up on 'The Desperate Housewives' today! I love DVR! :) Are any of you watching this?? I LOVE Lynette and Tom and how I wish they would get back together. They are like my husband and me which is why I think I relate to them so much. Susan broke my heart with how hurt she is over Mike. I know that has to be absolutely heartbreaking for her :( Makes me so sad. And I can't believe they tapped Bree's phone lines. She is busted fo sho! How many episodes left? I think only a few. We'll see!

And now for our prayer today:

Pray that your husband will surrender his time and talents to the Lord. Pray that his spiritual gifts will be manifest in his career, at church, and in your home. (Eph. 5:15-16; 1 Cor. 12:4, 7)

(Source) 

And the scriptures that go along with are as follows:

Ephesians 5:11-16 (The Message) Don't waste your time on useless work, mere busywork, the barren pursuits of darkness. Expose these things for the sham they are. It's a scandal when people waste their lives on things they must do in the darkness where no one will see. Rip the cover off those frauds and see how attractive they look in the light of Christ. Wake up from your sleep, Climb out of your coffins; Christ will show you the light! So watch your step. Use your head. Make the most of every chance you get. These are desperate times!

1 Corinthians 12:4-11 (The Message) God's various gifts are handed out everywhere; but they all originate in God's Spirit. God's various ministries are carried out everywhere; but they all originate in God's Spirit. God's various expressions of power are in action everywhere; but God himself is behind it all. Each person is given something to do that shows who God is: Everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits. All kinds of things are handed out by the Spirit, and to all kinds of people! The variety is wonderful: wise counsel, clear understanding, simple trust, healing the sick, miraculous acts, proclamation, distinguishing between spirits, tongues, interpretation of tongues. All these gifts have a common origin, but are handed out one by one by the one Spirit of God. He decides who gets what, and when.

Dear Jesus, thank You for my husband and the blessing he is to our lives! I pray that he gives his gifts that You blessed him with over to You. I pray that You use them for Your Kingdom and that You help him develop them. Please bless him with opportunities to use them! I pray that You will bless him with spiritual gifts and that he will understand them and use them to help others. We love You so much Lord and we desire to help others! In Your  name, Amen!!

God bless you all

and cheers to Project 366!

Project 366: Day 38 [March 25th]

We woke up this morning, I sent Natalie off with Brittany, and we all started getting ready. Our friends TJ and Lakin asked us if we wanted to go to breakfast with them this morning and OF COURSE we jumped on that, haha! Ethan has been dying to show me this breakfast they have there that he used to eat all of the time when he was in high school-- The Barnyard Buster. It comes with two biscuits, two eggs, country fries, all covered with sausage gravy. Yum, right? :) 

I ended up getting the 'Down Yonder Breakfast' so Tayler could split it with me. It comes with one sausage, one bacon, one egg, one pancake, and one french toast. She ate almost the entire french toast. Piggy, haha! But before eating..

And after eating....

 

She was a really big grump LOL She was 'crying' (I'll call it crying, but it was super fake, haha!) The entire time. I let her walk around towards the back since there was hardly anyone back there and everyone that was sitting back there kept saying, "Would you look at how adorable she is??" I told them she's that much more adorable when she's not throwing a temper tantrum, haha! She just woke up entirely too early and was already ready for a nap! She fell asleep soon after we got home.

But here she is prior to that:

I posted a picture of the back of the outfit on Facebook, but Mom and a friend of mine said, 'HELLOOOOO. We would like to see the front!!' LOL So I posted this one as well. I thought that bow just went sooo well with. She kept pulling it off of her head as she does with all bows now, but it still looked adorable ;)

She eventually crashed on me. I laid down and put her head on my chest. She laid there for awhile and watched 'Yo Gabba Gabba' but her breathing soon quieted and I could tell she had fallen asleep and guess what? I did the same. I don't even remember falling asleep, but I must have really needed it, haha! 

BUT GUESS WHAT HAPPENED WHEN I WOKE UP???

I woke up to these lovely books at my feet. Yes, I have a wonderful husband. I'd been talking about these and that I really wanted to read them. I read a few pieces of it on my Nook, but hadn't purchased them yet. Well, he wanted to surprise me, so he brought them home from Walmart for me. Good man, I tell ya :) I can't wait to start reading them!!

Then we watched 'Awake.' I've been dying to see this since Thursday night and I'm glad we finally got the opportunity to today!

Are any of you readers out there following along with this? Such a good TV show! It is so confusing though, but I think that's why I like it so much! You never know what is 'real.' It's so mind-boggling and the shrinks on the show make it just as odd. What are your thoughts? 

After that, we got ready to go Ethan's softball game. It was his first game of the season :) And we were all excited I think! We are such a family. We all got shirts that match too! :) Here's Tayler and Daddy waiting for Daddy's game to start:

She hates the flash hence the eyes being closed, hehe! My mom bought her that bow. Isn't it adorable? :) She's just too cute! Her Papaw and Gigi came to watch Daddy's game too! I think they just wanted to spend time with her ;) 

But guess what? I was walking with Tayler on the gravel and let go of her hand for a second (bad Mom moment :() and guess what happened?

See that scrap by her nose? :( Poor baby. She fell and went face first on to the ground. Bless her heart! She screamed SO bad. I felt like the worst mother in the world! I took this picture after bath time. She seems to be doing alright with it-- I'm doing worse! LOL I know she's just a kid and she's going to get more of those, but ugh-- I still felt terrible!

Here's a shot of the team playing:

They did so good for their first game EVER. I'm so proud to be a part of it :) My husband did wonderful. BUT it was FREEZING, darn it. What's with this weather? 80 degrees one day... 40 degrees the next. Whatever, haha! I can't keep up.

Once we got home and everyone got their baths, we turned on our lovely show 'Once Upon a Time!' :)

Do any of you watch that?

I LOVE IT.

And last night's episode definitely delivered. However, I thought the Mad Hatter was the one that gave Mary Margaret the key... not Regina. That was a confusing part. However, I am really excited to see the next episode and see how Regina and Snow White's relationship became how it is. 

And now for our prayer this week:

Pray that your husband will be a man of prayer. Pray that he will seek and pursue God in purposeful quiet times. (1 Thess. 5:17; Luke 22:46; James 5:16)

And the scriptures that go along with it are as follows:

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (The Message) Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.

Luke 22:45-46 (The Message) He got up from prayer, went back to the disciples and found them asleep, drugged by grief. He said, "What business do you have sleeping? Get up. Pray so you won't give in to temptation." 

James 5:16-18 (The Message)  Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with. Elijah, for instance, human just like us, prayed hard that it wouldn't rain, and it didn't—not a drop for three and a half years. Then he prayed that it would rain, and it did. The showers came and everything started growing again. 

Dear Jesus, Please help my husband and this entire household to become a family of prayer. Let us remember that that is how we reach Heaven's gates. Help Ethan and the rest of us to seek You! That's who we want. That's who we need in our lives. Let us have our quiet moments together. I know that prayer will unite us and that's what I desire. We love You so much! Thank You for everything! In Your Name, Amen!

God bless you all

and cheers to Project 366!