My Mind is all over

Things I am thinking about:

1. How often I see Children and Young Mothers begging on the side of the road for Money. If I go and run to the supermarket, and then over to the house where we do Ministry, I will encounter at least 4 or 5 people begging at stop lights. I remember as a little girl, over by the Merle Hay Mall exit, there was always someone begging, it was odd to see. Well, times that feeling by like 100. I have seen children doing acrobats in the street for money, mothers carrying thier newborn babies and it is such a odd spectrum, because I have never seen as many BMW's in my life as well. Odd spectrum. Anyway, it is a little overwhelming at times. Thought I would share.

2. We ate out last night at a restaurant called: JOHNNY ROCKETS.. This is an American chain restaurant sort of like Applebees or Chiles, but it is a Diner, that serves American style Cheeseburgers and Shakes.. I don't think their are any in Iowa.

It was crazy, they had old Coka Cola pictures and Oldies playing. It was like I stepped into the 50's with some Latino waiters..CRAZY..

P.S. Just found out they are getting a P.F. Changs restaurant at one of the malls here. Who would have thought.

3. Andy and I are seriously thinking about calling and paying Money to a Sleep Trainer. When i say Andy and I, what I mean is I... But, since we have been thinking about it, it seems like Henry is turning a page and starting to sleep a lot better. I feel like I am a sucker parent, and it seems like all the literature out there states babies can sleep for like 12 hours a night solidly.. WELL not my baby, he likes to get up and eat, and I really think he is hungry. He eats for like over 10 minutes, so I don't know.. It is enough to make a grown woman, go Mad.. I feel like I question myself, whether or not I am doing this right or if I am seriously screwing him up.. Maybe this is Normal.?? Henry seems Happy, so I guess I should not worry that much. Right?

4. I saw... Avatar.. Thumbs Up

I saw... 500 days of Summer... Thumbs Up

5. Have you ever heard of the Mexican food Mole.. Looks like Mole, but is pronounced MOLE-AY.. Tip of the day, this is DELICIOSO.. Delicious. It Rocks, so the next time you are anywhere that serves it, go ahead and Try it.. You will enjoy it... . P.S. it has nothing to do with Moles, so don't worry, Its like a really intense seasoning thing they put in meats, like chicken, beef...

6. I am making Valentines with Henry for his grandparents and I can't wait to send them.

7. Just got done painting our bedroom, Green. And I sort of like it, just sort of. But This is the first time Andy and I have had the oppurtunity to paint our bedroom in our 4.5 years of marriage.

8. Lastly, some Henry pictures.. YEAH

Confessions

I am copying the idea from one of my friends and do a blog entitled confessions:
Pretty much the stuff going through my brain right now.

1. The dog in the house behind us, has been barking for at least 6 hours straight.. STRAIGHT...
I can't handle it anymore, and want to litterally kill it... I am not joking.

2. I feel like all the mom friends I have here in Mexico are into homemade baby food. I AM NOT. I buy the jars and it is worth every single penny of the 53 cents each jar is, to not make it my self.

3. I need a manicure and pedicure like yesterday that is how bad my hands and feet look.:)

4. I am extremely afraid of scary movies. I saw a preview for that LOVELY BONES movie, like 2 weeks ago and have been thinking about it everyday for the last 2 weeks..

5. I use way to many periods after sentences..........

6. I have done 3 loads of laundry today, and could not be happier. I have been without a washer and dryer for a week....

7. Hey I think i hear the beautiful noise of a dog barking..

8. Henry has a little cough, we went and saw the doctor and he is almost 20 pounds now.. The cough is getting better..

9. My birthday is coming up, and secretly I feel as if it should be a NATIONAL HOLIDAY.
Well, kids no school on February 16th because it is CHELSEA'S birthday... YEAH

10. I have been eating Nutella out of the jar with a spoon, because I am to lazy to make any dessert.. It is so yummy..

11. In our new house, the oven has no number settings on it.. It just says, in this order; BAKE, and then MEDIUM????? What ever that means, I have no clue..

12. I want to get Laser Eye Surgery, I am not a fan of contacts.

13. The dog is STILL BARKING.. I am off to kill it..:)

Untill later..

Whirlwind of a Holiday

Well, it has been ages since I posted anything for all my buds out there. And since, my mom so delicately tells me to post another blog, just because she wants to see Henry fotos.... :)
So here you go,
In the last month:
We visited 3 states: ILLINOIS, IOWA, FLORIDA.. All 3 were cold..
We visited Santa
We saw tons of Family
We ate Tasty Tacos. Jimmy Johns, Palmers Deli, Hy-Vee, Granite City, Copper Canyon Grill, The Cheesecake Factory, Taco Johns and tons of Mountain Dew... All things they do not have in Mexico.. BELIEVE IT OR NOT....
We celebrated Birthdays: Aunt Katie's, and ANDY'S.... Both celebrated in style, I might add.
We found out how much Henry loves other babies.. It is so cute, he just loves hanging with friends his age.
We put Henry in DayCare for the first time, when we had to go to a Conference in Freezing Orlando.. It was sad, but he did good.
We moved houses. :( It was sad to leave Henry's first and only home, but we are all moved in and things are good..
WE Celebrated Christmas, and New Years. And we are so blessed by the Lord to have him in our lives. And so thankful that the Lord gave us Henry .. It made Christmas a lot more Fun this year..
So here are some pictures to prove all I wrote is true!

Ready Rudulph? Ready Santa!!

Well we had our first Thanksgiving with our sweet little pumpkin. We had a great day of gorging and having lots o' fun..

Just wanted to put up some cute picures of Henry and then go, because we are moving this week and this is just a quick update on our little man.

Getting ready to go home soon, and spend Christmas with our Famalamalia....

Sweet Baby Henry

Well, our sweet baby Henry caught his first cold a week ago. It was so sad because he had the saddest little cough, and on top of that his daddy had to be gone to the USA. So just momma and Henry. Here in Mexico the pediatrician's give you their personal cell phone number so you can call and get their opinion and not have to travel to the doctors.. Which is so nice..... So Henry got over his little cold and his Daddy is back and he is doing well.

Andy and I and Henry are getting ready to move into a house that is 6 houses down from this one.. This will be the first time in over 2 years that we will be using all of our own furniture. I am so excited, how we will be getting this furniture back is a question. But I am not even thinking about that now....

Lastly, Here is our 5.5 month old baby. Time is flying and I miss my sweet newborn baby. He is becoming big, and I am loving every new milestone, but it is sort of bittersweet. Does that make sense? Anyway, look how cute he is....

Learnin from the Ladies

Weekly, I do a Bible Study with the 1st year girls. We have been doing it on women from the Bible, and what we can learn from their lives.
I thought in the car, that maybe I would start posting these bible studies on line for all to read.

This week was ELIZABETH.

Strengths: Trusted God, She was Content with her life.

Her life is found in Luke chapter 1 and 2

Key verse: Luke 1;6 Zacheriah and Elizabeth were righteous in God's eyes careful to obey all of the Lord's commandments and regulations.

It is cool to think of Elizabeth today, because she is very much still relevant.
How many of us can say that we are content with our lives they way they are.
I know that I struggle with this on many occasions, I tend to look at others and think they have it all. When really I HAVE IT ALL. God has blessed me and i have so much that I should be content..

Elizabeth was content with her life, even though through her story you see she was wanting a child and for many years had no children. I believe she was like it is okay. God is still good. i will continue to follow his commands. And then in her old age God blessed her with a child, John the Baptist. She believed that GOD would do it, even when probably everyone around her doubted..I think she is a perfect example of being happy with her life just the way it was. Didn't need anymore or any less.

The opposite of contentment is discontentment, and I sort of think Jealousy too.
Think in your life are you Discontent or not happy with how it is.
Do you constantly think that it would be better if this happened or that or if I had this or that?
Maybe the lesson we can learn from Elizabeth is too not be discontent, and just be happy with the gifts and blessings you have been given now.

Take a minute and ponder your blessings. God has blessed many in so many ways and yet I still have times of discontentment, I get jealous and just lose sight of the fact that I should be happy and enjoy right now and what I have right now.


Anyway, this was this weeks Bible Study on Elizabeth. One lady we can learn from.

My Chubby Pumpkin

This are pictures of Henry's first Halloweeny...

He was 2 characters this holiday.

Whinnie the Pooh Bear and a chubby Pumpkin.

Andy thought he was cutest as POOH, and I thought he was cutest as a PUMPKIN.

I dressed up as a Nurse. {I know, How original!}

And had the letters BOOK on his face.. He was Face-Book.. {Got the idea from The Office}.

Anyway, We had a great day of celebrating with a Harvest Party. Enjoying lots of sweets, and just having a fun time.

Funny side note: We had trick or treaters come to our house for candy and I had nothing to give, so I instead gave the only thing I had a lot of, which was Boxes of Jell-O. That my friend Mary Campbell sent down with her husband Bill, for us. I am sure all the kids loved that treat. :)

Our trip Home

I know it is picture overload, but it is the best way for me to show you all what went on when we went home.

In a Nut Shell,,, Henry was dedicated.. My Dad, brother, grandparents, cousins, Aunts all got to meet and hold Mr. Henry.

I went and saw Wicked with my Mom and Sissy. It was freezing!!!!!!!!! We had a pumpkin carving contest and Melissa won.

We went to Melanie's Wedding. Henry was one cute groomsmen.

We ate lots of BBQ and loved on our family.

The Evolution of a Mother

Today Henry is 4 months old. Yesterday we went and got his 4 month check-up and immunizations. Henry hates getting shots, not unlike every other baby. The only thing is that he gets a fever and is fussy for about 24 hours after. So, knowing this is what happened the first time and not being prepared for it at all, I decided to do the shots early in the morning and give Tylenol immediately afterwards and then every 4 hours for like 24 hours. Well, suffice it to say, he got a bad fever again, even with the Tylenol. :(

So, I was up a lot of last night. While I was rocking and nursing for what seemed the 10th time that night, I was thinking.....

When does a Mother become a Mother and how?

Is is when she has a baby of her own?

I believe that most little girls if they are lucky enough to have good mothers, were taught at a young age how to care. How to love and be mother like.

I have been so blessed to be brought up by in my mind "The Best Mother"(Direct your eyes to the woman in the coral and pink shirt). My mom taught me all of these lessons, and it also helped that I was 9 when my brother was born. I think even at this age, I had a small Motherly instinct.

My mind goes back to the years when my brother, sister and I were babysat. One time, I remember being at the babysitters with my siblings and I remember Joe crying for what seemed like a long time. I remember going up stairs to pick him up, and the babysitter saying to me" Do Not Pick Him Up! He needs to learn how to sleep on his own". I then preceeded to pick him up and say to her"Umm, I am his sister and he is crying and he wants me!!"

Sorry for the bunny trail story :)

I also have been blessed with a wonderful Mother-in-law who is very loving to me and to Henry.

(Direct your eyes to the woman in blue and white) I have seen her mothering skills in many ways with her own children and her grand-children.

I also have had wonderful grandma's and strong woman who became Mom's who I have admired and learned from.

I think Mothers sacrifice and Love no matter what, even when it is hard.

It is weird for me to think that I am a MOM sometimes. I am Henry's Mom..

I write this part and it in no way takes away the thoughts and feelings of people with out children. But it is so INTENSE the love you have for your baby.. I think it helps you maybe understand a little more the Love that God has for us. We are his children. And I guess I thought I understood what that meant. But then when you have a baby, I feel like I personally got it...

It is a Love that is different than the Love I have for my Husband, and for my Family..

So in conclusion, thank your MOM today.. Maybe your mother has passed away, take this moment to not be sad, but remember the lessons she taught you. And if you are blessed enough to still have your mother, tell HER thanks... Because whether you know it or not, she probably wrestles with the thoughts of if she was raising you correctly and in the best way..