Check it out

Check out my new blog. myheartasamom.blogspot.com

Moving…

I know this seems annoying. But I had someone offer to help me with my blog. I also had a bookstore offer some things…but in order to do this I have to move to blogspot. Shhhh…don’t tell wordpress. I do like wordpress, but they don’t really allow you to do much unless you pay for it. Blogger is a bit better with some stuff. So anyway…I am moving. My new blog will be http://myheartasamom.blogspot.com/

I hope that you all will go over there. Soon you will be able to subscribe by email. There will be more giveaways and lots of fun stuff! The next couple weeks I won’t be doing much. But look for lots of great stuff to come!

Sarah

Check out this giveaway!

http://ryandbec.blogspot.com/2010/07/csn-store-giveaway.html

My friend is having a giveaway. It’s $40 to CNS stores! I won her last giveaway and got an awesome apron and some toys for the girls! I love my apron and wear it all the time. All you have to do is leave a comment on her blog! So easy and you could win!!!!

A note from my husband…

This is part of a note my husband wrote to me…

"Is it that I think you are attractive?
No, you are beautiful to all,
those who know you and those who don’t
Your beauty is as objective as the blue sky.
Perhaps it is that I would find you to be
the most beautiful of Gods creations
no matter what you were looking like. "

He makes my heart melt…

My Messenger of Hope

Rayvena Hope…you are a messenger of hope. This week you went from being my little baby to turning one! A year old already! How can it be? Doesn’t seem possible!

While I was pregnant with you everyone would ask us "Are you trying for a boy?" I would always answer no, because that is the truth. We did not plan you and we were not trying for a boy. But someone much bigger than you and I planned you! He knew what he was doing and He knows you better than anyone!

You are my very serious baby. You never cried a lot, didn’t fuss much…even when you were sick. You love being held and rocked and you LOVE your dad! You are the biggest daddy’s girl…and all your biggest smiles are saved for him. You melt his heart!

You are such an active little baby and are always on the go. You keep be on my toes…I will never forget the first time you climbed our stairs! You were screaming at the top of your lungs trying to figure out how to get down!

You are a joy and I am so glad God put you in our lives!

My Birthday Girl….about a month late!

So it’s been so long since I have done a blog and I realized that I never shared about my June Birthday girl!

4 years ago Liliana Ellyn Ussery was born June 2nd in Changsha, China. No she is not Chinese. She was was one week late and weighed in at 8lbs 9oz beating her older sister by 1oz. As you can imagine her birth and the days to follower were filled with so many unusually experiences. Everything from an anesthesiologist that looked like he was a taxi driver to baby swimming to people constantly making me drink soup in the middle of June. I was even yelled at for eating ice cream once. There was the constant complaints that I was a bad mother for not having her dressed warm enough or even dressed too warm. At the time it felt like a no win situation…and it was. When I finally realized that the more these women criticize me the more they really cared about it.

Liliana is well Liliana. It’s really the best way to describe her. She is her own little person. She can break down crying at any moment and be over within seconds. She is our emotional little girl and I try to be gentle with her. I don’t want to stomp on her spirit. Her newest passion is Hula dancing. I am not sure where she got it from, but she sure does a good job! She LOVES horses and the color blue. Every time we pass horses while driving she screams out in excitement, even though we have seen those same horses many times. She is very talkative and can talk about everything and nothing all day long. She is full of compassion, so if you ever need someone to feel bad for you…just give her a call! She has a look that is hard for anyone to resist. Those big blue eyes and the curls that fall around her face make it even harder to resist. She sure has her Grandad and Grandpa wrapped around her little finger! She loves to be outside and always enjoys pulling weeds and working on lawn projects. I think if I would let her she would mow the lawn for me. She is such a character and so full of life! I love you Liliana and happy late birthday!

My Mom Chose Life

There are so many things I am passionate about. But one thing that really stands out is LIFE. When I hear statistics about abortion it saddens me. So I started a new photography project.

I am thankful that my mom chose LIFE…

If she hadn’t this world would be so different. Some people would have never hear about Christ. Some would never have laughed at my poor jokes. There would be one less light in this world. And if she wouldn’t have chose LIFE, then I wouldn’t have had the option to choose LIFE.

The world wouldn’t have Jadelyn…

I am glad I chose LIFE for my daughter. If I hadn’t we would be missing an aspiring paleontologist. A girl who one day wants to write novels. There would be no questions that need answering.

The world wouldn’t have Liliana…

I am glad I chose LIFE. If I hadn’t there would be one less horse lover. There would be no girl to look up to her older sister. There would be no girl who wants to be a fast soccer player! No beautiful stories of Tiny Tina to listen to.

The world wouldn’t have Scarletta…

I am glad I chose LIFE. If I hadn’t there would be no future track star! She would never have a chance to try and break the world record in the 100m dash. There would be no scribbles for me to hang on my fridge. There would be no hugs before bed.

The world wouldn’t have Rayvena…

I am glad I chose LIFE. If I hadn’t there would be no little girl to hum along with me as I sang. There would be no smiles first thing in the morning. There would be no daddy’s girl.

I am glad that I chose LIFE. Now I have given my girls the chance to choose LIFE.

The Weight

There are days when I feel the weight of the world on my shoulders. Sometimes I feel like I have so much going on and so much to do that it feels like it weighs me down. Some days it’s all I can do to not let the feeling overwhelm me.

I try to be an honest person. For so many years I feel like I would hold it all in. My thoughts just were bound up inside of me. I do restrain myself at times. I know it’s not always good to just go around saying everything that’s on your mind. I also know it’s not good to just bottle it all up inside. So I try to find a balance of the two.

These days when things become heavy for me I try to be honest with my husband. I try to be honest with people who are close to me. But when things creep up on you it’s hard to be honest, but the great thing is I have a wonderful husband. One who is so understanding, honest and gentle. He knows to pray, not push me and to be a listening ear. I have to say my husband is a blessing!

I have to say that God has brought so many great people into my life. Ones who give such great support and ones who remind me that God is my all. That without God I wouldn’t be here today. I find that when days are hard it’s because I have stopped focusing on the fact that God is my source of strength. So I am turning my eyes back on the Lord.

My Days

So lately my days have been full and I have been feeling a bit overwhelmed with life. Trying to keep track of the girls activities, cleaning, laundry and doctors appointments.

This summer is going to be crazy. We are starting homeschool, Jadelyn has T-ball, reading program at the library, swimming and so many more things. I am exhausted just thinking about it all!

We are still trying to get Rayvena’s ears better. She had tubes put in when she was 8 months old and just a few weeks ago at 10 months she had another ear infection. She is such a good baby, but you don’t want to mess with her when her ears hurt. It started out as a temp of 104 on Sunday night and we took her in early Monday. Last thing I expected was an ear infection! A few days later Scarletta felt left out and had a high temp. So that day I took her in to see the dr and I also had to take Rayvena in because she was still running high temps. So Scarletta ended up having Bronchitis which she has had at least 4 times this year. Now Rayvena is feeling better, but I am not so sure about Scarletta. I just keep praying.

Liliana has turned 4 and it seems like now all she does it bounce of the walls! So is this what happens when they turn 4? They get extremely hyper and just drive you crazy?!?! I don’t know if I can handle it much longer. We have also been dealing with her listening or should I say her lack of listening. It seems no matter how many times I say it or how I say it she still doesn’t seem to hear me. Or maybe she does and she just doesn’t want to do it. So she is getting many lessons on listening and obeying. Wears me out!

Jadelyn is still her normal self. Always full of never ending questions that I don’t seem to know the answer too. I have been doing a lot of look up answers. The funny thing about her is she won’t just take any answer. She knows when I am making it up. I often hear her say "That doesn’t make sense." It’s all so funny! She is doing great with T-ball. It’s really a big free for all and the kids all dog pile for that ball. But they are young and it’s so cute!

Darrel is doing well with his new schedule and we are all just trying to get use to it! Hopefully it will only get easier as we go along. Darrel is also almost done with school! I look forward to the end of that!

So my days are full of activities and so much going on. I don’t think anything will slow down any day soon, but we will start to get into a good schedule and it will feel like normal. I am excited because after the summer I will be heading up a MOPs group here in town! It will be a great place for moms to get together and a great support group!

Book Review: God’s Promises For Girls

 

God’s  Promises For Girls
By Jack Countryman & Amy Parker

I was so excited to get this book from Thomas Nelson. I remember when I was in high school I was given a God’s Promises for Teenagers. I LOVED it! God’s Promises for Girls sections out the Bible into different catagories. Giving girls verses that are relavent for a certain topic such as “being a good sister”. My oldest was drawn to the book right away because of the colorful cover with it’s wonderful illistration. She loved the thick pages because they were easy to turn and I loved them cause they kept clean and don’t tear as easily as others. The book is full of great topics and cute illistrations that the younger girls love to look at. My oldest dove right in and started reading some of the verses. It’s a great way to get her interested in the Bible without overwhelming her with a huge book.

I love it cause I use it during our Bible time. We pick a verse out for the day and memorize it and say it through out the day! I love how excited my girls get when I get the book off the shelf. I would suggest this book to anyone with little girls and anyone looking for a great Bible time idea for their girls. I think it’s a great way to start young ones reading the Bible!