Re-thinking

You may have noticed {or maybe you haven't} that I have been MIA since Tuesday.  Been convicted of and re-thinking about my motives of this blog.  I love writing here.  I enjoy looking back and reliving memories that our family has made and ways God is working in my life.  Blogging is one of my hobbies and it's a creative outlet for me to express myself.

But I started noticing something.

I found myself thinking about my blog a lot, checking to see how many views my posts were recieving, wondering if anyone was leaving comments, wishing I had more followers, and hoping that what I said made people think that I was cool.  Sounds pretty pathetic, right?  It is.

Then, I was writing my Tuesday's "A Day in the Life of" post.  I had it all finished and I couldn't publish it.  It's amazing how God can use anything to speak to you. Seeing on the screen what I actually did all day was very convicting.  I hadn't opened my Bible all day, I hadn't included in my post that I had spent wasted a good amount of time on the computer when I should have been more productive {too afraid of what my readers would think}, and I was trying to word things in such a way that would make you think - once again - "Wow, that Abby, she's got it together and she's pretty cool!"

So, I'm starting over.

I will still write about my family, especially our beloved Max.  I will still take more pictures than I know what to do with.  And I will still post recipes and links that I love.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where thieves do not break in and steal."
Matthew 6:19-20

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My prayer is that my heart and my motives will be different.

My treasure is in my relationship with Jesus Christ and I want this blog and my heart to reflect that.

Here's to a new beginning.

2011 - A week in the life of - Monday

7:45 - Out of bed.  Snooze went off for 2 hours...since Wes got out of bed.  How pathetic is that?  I think I can find the snooze button in my sleep.

8:00 - Get Max up.  Feed him.  I need to bite the bullet and start letting him feed himself with a spoon.  He doesn't like me to feed him much these days.

8:30 - Max had blanket time for 5 minutes.  He did a pretty good job of staying on the blanket.  I think he only tried to crawl off twice.  The goal is 30-45 minutes which will get him ready for room time.

9:00 - Max and I ran some errands for last minute VBS items

10:15 - On our way home, I was listening to an interesting program in the car and didn't want to miss it so continued to drive to the park in Leo.  Not a ton for Max to do at this park, but he loved it.  He spent most of his time crawling down stairs backwards.  One of his new skills.  I guess he figured bear-crawling down stairs isn't the safest way to maneuver.

11:30 - Lunch - For Max toasted peanut butter and jelly, orange sweet peppers, bananas and milk.  I had a spinach salad.

12:00 - Looked over VBS crafts while Max played.  Watch Reba - don't you judge me.  Played with Max.

1:00 - Naptime for Max - More VBS.  Vacuumed and rearranged our living room.  Went through piles of papers....always piles.

3:00 - Max is getting pretty good at crying in a way that makes me think something is wrong when there isn't.  I go up to get him.  He's sitting up in his crib and I take him downstairs.  Bad idea.  Should have just laid him back down.

Spent the next hour pretty frustrated with my boy.  Finally put him back down to sleep again {not thinking he would}.  He slept for another 30 minutes.

4:30 - Made dinner for Max and I.  Wes had a dinner with the other PA's.  Wes comes home before his dinner.

5:30 - Max and I left for VBS - We ended up with 48 {I think} kids!  Which is awesome.  It's just our small group and a few other brave souls doing it and I think it went really well!

8:30 - Home.  Put Max to bed.

9:00 - Max is crying {He rarely wakes up after putting him to bed}  I hold him which is really the only time that he is cuddly so I enjoy it.  Lay him back down and he goes to sleep.

10:30 - Max wakes up again.  I do the same as above.

11:00 - Wes gets home ( He went to the TinCaps game after his dinner)  Brings me dessert from his dinner.  I could wait to eat it until tomorrow, but I don't.

11:30 - In bed realizing that I didn't post my "Day in the life of" post.

12:30 - Max wakes up again.  Wes and I both get up.  Wes holds Max.  I get medicine for the boy.  Back to bed.

I have realized that I'm using past and present tense throughout this post.  Sorry, Dad.

Check out Abby's post too.

2011 - A week in the life of - Sunday

Read this post to see why I'm doing this.  Or don't...but you really should.  Because she's cool.

6:00 - Wes gets up to go running.  I stay in bed.

7:15 - I wake up and think, "I'll just lay here for a few more minutes.  Max will be up any time."

7:50 - Wake up.  Realize that it's been a little longer than a few minutes.  I think I hear Max, so I hurry and take a shower.  Get dressed.  Get Max.  Feed Max...let me rephrase that...attempt to feed Max.  He downed his milk in 2 seconds and apparantly didn't want his oatmeal.  Not good knowing that he's going to be in the church nursery for 3 hours.  Feed him a banana.  Get Max dressed.  Do dry my hair.

8:40 - We're out the door for church.  On the way, I realize that I didn't brush my teeth, put on deoderant or put on any makeup.  Awesome.  I also didn't have my phone, but that won't be a surprise to anyone that really knows me.

9:00 - 12:00 - Church service and Sunday School.  If you read Abby's post, you know that every girl in the class cried at some point during Sunday School.  Oh, those poor men...

12:30 - Mexican takeout

1:00 - Max naps.  Wes naps.  I read.

2:30 - I nap.  Wes and Max are still napping.

5:00 - Go up stairs to wake Max up.  He usually sleeps until 4:00.  We'll take an extra hour any day.  The three of us watch golf and Max was loving it which brought pure joy to Wes.  He would clap {Max, not Wes} every time the ball went in the hole.  He was glued to the TV and he normally could care less about television.

5:30 - Fed Max.  Wes and I weren't hungry.

6:00 - Went to small group to talk about vacation bible school.  We all brought our kids and we now know why we don't normally have our kids at small group...

8:30 - Max goes to bed.  Wes is trying to find some spare parts for our gate at the bottom of the stairs online and I am doing some research for a future blog post.

10:30 - I was going to bed until I read Abby's post and figured I'd join the fun.

11:00 - Hit "publish post".  Off to bed.

And the winner is...

I had 3 comments on my first giveaway.  I was hoping for just one person to leave a comment so I guess it was a success.

I don't personally know the 3 ladies that entered the giveaway which I think is fun!  One of them has the title of being my first follower that I don't know in real life, another has been following me for a while without me knowing.  I told her not to worry, I have many blogs that I stalk  follow and the last commenter popped over to check out my blog because I  commented on her great felted soap craft.

So.....the winner of the nook/kindle case is........

My favorite "follower-I-don't-know-in-real-life" from irishtwinsmommababybook  I used random.org

I don't even know her real name!

Irish Twins Momma, go ahead and e-mail me your address and I will get your nook case to you this week!  My e-mail is at the top of my sidebar.

Christy and Anna - thanks for entering!

Link Love {2 giveaways, ice cream and more ice cream, and adoption through foster care}

Giveaway at Scottyboy and Katygirl for 2 very fun headbands from Pocketful of Zoe.  This one is my favorite...

Dont forget about my giveaway for the nook/kindle case.  Tomorrow night {Saturday} at 11:59 is the deadline to leave a comment.  Make sure you leave your comment under the giveaway post...not this one.  I'm sure Christy is hoping that no one else leaves a comment.  I would say her odds of winning the "random" selection are pretty good.

Want to make a different kind of ice cream?  This green tea ice cream looks pretty delicious to me.  The first time I had green tea ice cream was in Chicago.  Perfect for a hot, summer day.

Speaking of a hot, summer day... Wouldn't you love to have an amazing ice cream cake right about now?  If you don't live in the Fort Wayne area, you're out of luck.  If you do, go to our cakery's website to see how to get one.  Nice plug, huh?

His Plans are Bigger Than Ours - guest post from See Jamie Blog about their adoption journey via foster care.

A Giveaway from a Giveaway

Some of you know that I won an amazing giveaway on the blog Scottyboy and Katygirl.  I won a ton of stuff.  25 gifts total!  To say thank you to the shops that were so generous to donate to this giveaway, I wanted to give them some free advertising.  Here are the first 5 of the 25 gifts with links to the shops.  You should really check them out!  I would be shocked if you didn't find something that you loved!

burlap kindle/nook case

My Sunshine Homemade {she has a blog too}

Here is the giveaway of the giveaway.


I don't have a kindle or a nook.  


Do you?  If you do, go ahead and leave a comment at the bottom of this post. One lovely lady...or gentleman {I don't think I have ever had a man leave a comment on my blog} will be randomly chosen to have this adorable case sent to you!   


The fact that I just said adorable will probably keep most men from leaving a comment.  


You have until 11:59 pm on Saturday, July 23, to enter.  

happy birthday banner

Bekah Jennings

library card notebooks

Saratops {also has a blog}

mini canvas welcome bunting

Dear Nicole {yep, she has a blog too}


zipper pouch

Charm Design

If you end up buying anything from these shops, I would love to know.  Leave a comment to tell me about your purchase!

Where's the Love? Wednesday {7.20.11}

What I'm loving this week...

A quick baseball game in almost 100 degree weather.  The part that I loved was the quick part.

This picture I found on Wes' phone.

Wes volunteering to play Monopoly {one of my favorite games}.  

Quickest game ever - 1 hour 15 minutes.  I was victorious.  

I love Wes' "I can't believe you're beating me like this" smile.  It's really cute.

He's not smiling in this picture...

All of those hotels - they're mine.   

This.

Another garage sale find - snow boots for $1.  

But what I love more is that he giggled as I put them on his feet.

He played in them for about 10 minutes. 

Until he realized that 95 degrees and humidity doesn't produce much snow.

Where is your love this week?  

It can be fun, lighthearted, deep and meaningful or a little of both.  It can be one thing or many things  It may even be one simple photograph to capture where you're feeling the love.

If you would like to participate, click on the "Add your link" blue button at the bottom of this post.

Don't forget to copy the code under the Where's the Love? Wednesday button and paste it into the body of your love post.  

Can't wait to start sharing the love!

Waves and Smiles All Around

Max had another first...

We went to the mall.  {Definitely not a first.}

Max had his first ride on the merry-go-round.

At first, he was holding on to Wes for dear life.

But as soon as the merry-go-round got moving, he loved every second...waving and smiling to everyone as he went around.  

It was worth the $2 dollars, but I think we'll stick to the penny pony ride at Meijer.  Same waving and smiling results and a bit cheaper.

black bean & citrus salad

I found this recipe in one of my cookbooks.  Actually if you clicked on the link, you saw that it's not really a cookbook but a "deck" of recipe cards.  It screamed summer...and I didn't want to clean...so I made it.  

Black Bean and Citrus Salad

2-15oz. cans of black beans - rinsed and drained

1 cup corn

Chop up this stuff:

1 tomato

red onions - 1/2 cup

1 red bell pepper

cilantro - 1/2 cup

1 avocado

2 oranges, peeled, sectioned and cut in small pieces

1 grapefruit, cut like the oranges

Put everything in a bowl.  Mix

Dressing

1/4 cup fresh lime juice - I used 2 limes

2 Tbsp. lemon juice

2 garlic cloves, minced

3 Tbsp. veg. oil

1 Tbsp. ground cumin

1/2 tsp. salt

Whisk together.  Pour over salad.  Mix.

It will last in the refrigerator for 3 or 4 days.  

Instead of eating my salad with a fork, I ate mine with some blue corn tortilla chips.  

I'm linking up to Tatertots and Jello

Where's the Love? Wednesday {7.13.11}

What I'm loving this week...
Max's first haircut.

before.

  

Once Max got over trying to figure out what Grandma was doing, I think he enjoyed it.  

after.

Max's hair may be different, but his facial expression hasn't changed.

Where is your love this week?  

It can be fun, lighthearted, deep and meaningful or a little of both.  It can be one thing or many things  It may even be one simple photograph to capture where you're feeling the love.

If you would like to participate, click on the "Add your link" blue button at the bottom of this post.

Don't forget to copy the code under the Where's the Love? Wednesday button and paste it into the body of your love post.  

Can't wait to start sharing the love!

My Find at Salvation Army

Today, I was heading to the grocery store, but I had a feeling Max wouldn't do well.  We had already been running errands for a little over an hour, so I decided to go to The Salvation Army to see if I could find any treasures.  I was going to do a quick walk-through - maybe I would find a cool piece of furniture or some clothes for Max.  I found something much more amazing.

This nice lady was helping me figure out the price for a play kitchen set.  She looked familiar, but I didn't really think much about it.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The kitchen was pink.  I would paint it a fun, manly color for Max, but then I remembered telling Wes that I wouldn't bring anymore projects home until I finished the projects I already have.  I'm a great starter and a horrible finisher.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I went on my way to hunt some more.

As I was walking up and down the isles, I heard another worker say the nice lady's name.  It's a unique, unforgetable name and it's the name of the first birthmom we met when we were going though our adoption journey.  It clicked and I realized why she looked so familiar.  I made a bee-line for her.

January 2010 - A birthmom wanted to meet us. We found out that she was from the Gary area, but was in a rehab center in Fort Wayne. She would be having her baby in Fort Wayne. This for sure was the baby God had for us! We met her and the meeting went really well. She had it narrowed down to us and another couple. We were her #1 pick. The counselor said, "Birthmoms almost always go with their first choice. It's just to make sure that they made the right decision." She didn't pick us. That was a humbling experience and we would love to know the reason she went with the other couple, but we know that God had other plans.


I started jabbering at her.  Understandably, she was looking at me kind of nervous.  I told her my name and then I'm pretty sure I said something like, "Did you give a baby up for adoption?"   Not real smooth...Then I told her my name again along with Wes' name and she said, "Oh yeah! Wes!"  I then remembered how much she loved Wes.  She has good taste.

We just assumed that this uniquely-named, nice lady would move back to the Gary area.  I'm so thankful that God allowed our paths to cross again.

We hugged.  She told me about her little girl and how she gets pictures every 3 months...and this month is one of those months...and she's checking her mail every day for those pictures.  {Such a good reminder for me to be extra prompt with my pictures to Max's birthmom.}  Being prompt is also something I'm not very good at.

She gave me an update about her life and I could tell that she was proud.  She has her other children back, she has a job and she has a house and I believe her.

I started to get all teary-eyed as I told her how humbling it was to not be chosen, but that we knew that God had a different plan for our family.  I wasn't teary-eyed because of the not-being-chosen-part but because I was holding in my arms the different plan that God had for us.

God wants me to pray for her.  I just know it.

And I can't wait to go back to The Salvation Army.

Sunday Snapshot {new outfit and a festival}

Another outfit from Max's birthmom.  Remember this outfit?  Wow, he's changed!  

I think this outfit is adorable and I'm shocked that it fits!  Size 2T.

  

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We met with L, last Tuesday at a park .  We had a good time.  We prayed in the car on the way {I promise Wes didn't close his eyes} that Max would not be all "stranger-danger" with his birth family, especially L, his birthmom.  At first, he wouldn't go to anyone but L.  He still gave her a very serious staredown, but he didn't cry.  I'm not sure if that was God answering our prayer or if there is something about her that he knows is familiar.  Oh, how I wish I knew what that sweet boy was thinking.  Maybe it was a little of both.  By the end of our time together, he was pretty comfortable and was showing his personality. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

You can't have a new outfit with no place to go...

So we went to one of our city's many festivals yesterday.  {It was stinkin' hot, I'm not sure what we were thinking.} 

Family picture.

We saw some sidewalk art.

Then we got some ice tea, went to some art booths, saw some bodybuilders posing for pictures and left.  Remember - we were hot.  Even in 90 plus degree weather, I love doing stuff with my little family.

Link Love {Casey Anthony, Infertility, Honey Strawberry Jam and Modern-day Slaves}

Hi, my name is Heather, and I'm a recovering modern-day slave owner - This post gave me a new perspective on the stuff that I am buying for myself and our family.  Sit a Spell was one of the first blogs that I started following.  I love her heart...and her occasional sarcasm.

My Favorite Desserts - My friend, Abby, wrote this post last month on her blog.  I love her honesty about infertility and her passion for her girls/adoption.  I just read it again...and it gave me goose bumps.

Blame it on John Grisham - I love Katy's thoughts on Casey Anthony.  This is the blog that I won all of the etsy loot from!!!

This Honey Strawberry Jam recipe just sounds yummy! - Simple Bites

Where's the Love? Wednesday...or Thursday {7.7.11}

What I'm loving this week...


I got to spend last weekend with my mom's side of the family.


Here they are.

Good lookin' group, right?  We were missing an uncle, 4 grandkids and 4 great-grand kids... wish they could have been there.  

Uncle Jeff's chicken.

And lots of other delicious food. 

Grandma saying numerous times, "It sure is good to have babies around..."

Snuggling and reading to those babies.

And who couldn't love this boy.

The pool.

Watching fireworks and hanging out up here. 

This picture Wes took of the beloved Amstutz Hatchery.

My Grandparents. 

I love these two.  

Where is your love this week?  

It can be fun, lighthearted, deep and meaningful or a little of both.  It can be one thing or many things  It may even be one simple photograph to capture where you're feeling the love.

If you would like to participate, click on the "Add your link" blue button at the bottom of this post.

Don't forget to copy the code under the Where's the Love? Wednesday button and paste it into the body of your love post.  

Can't wait to start sharing the love!