Baby!!!!

Wow it has been a very long time since I have updated this blog- oops- but I am here now with many news to report. First the most important news of all, our nephew Makai Andrew Marinig was born on March 8th 2010. He is one healthy long guy- measuring 21.25 inches. We are excited for Mark and Sarah and can't wait to see him this upcoming weekend.

In the meantime our family has completed a 14 day Daniel fast from 02.22.10 through 03.07.10. We were only eating fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and legumes and our beverage of choice was water with lemon. Zander participated as well by not eating any sort of sugary treats. It was a great time of reflection for our family and a chance to slow down, be aware and draw closer to the Lord.
I am not saying by any means that this was easy, but surprisingly it was not hard either. Besides the occasional grumpyness, we did not have any immense cravings for sugar or our biggest vice, coffee! Of course we stayed away from places that would have enticed us with their sweet smelling aromas but it was a great experience.

Since my last post in February I also completed my first sewing project- a pillow case for Zander. He picked the fabric all by himself, can you guess what it is?? Of course, fabric with the "Cars" characters. I know it is a very easy project, but you have to start somewhere on your journey. 

Additional exciting news for the last month are: Ethan has had two teeth come in, his bottom chompers, and it was a much more difficult journey for him than it ever was for Zander. I absolutely adore how different my two little guys are. Ethan has become quite the conversationalist and is seriously on the move, he is even extremely close to perfecting his crawling move. Something else has occurred to me this past week; I had been wondering how I balanced the feedings, naps and playtimes with Zander, as I am all over the place and struggling to keep up with structure and then it occurred to me- I never had to find this balance before. When Zander was 7 months old, I had to return to work fulltime and he was at daycare. I am deeply grateful for the opportunity I have been given to be home and watch my boys grow and to learn how to balance it all out. It is something I would not want to trade for any other career on the planet. Thank you Lord for the opportunity and in May of this year I will get to celebrate being a stay at home mom for 2 years. Wow!!!

So for today I am leaving this update encouraged to post a bit more than just once per month and determined to keep up just a bit better.

Love & Blessings

Update

So here I am again after a long absence from this wonderful blog with an update on some of those "Resolutions" I have set for 2010.
Let's start from the top, expecting the supernatural from the Lord- oh yes we are, every day and even more so now that we have put our "house for sale" sign out, and wouldn't you know it selling our house is on the list as well :)
Trying to grow my hair out is in full swing, although one very slow swing I must say. The next three on the list, sewing, new recipes and the handwritten notes, need some serious attention as I have not made much progress at all, I did try some very tasty desert recipes for the first time, but that is not what my I had in mind for my resolution.
We are very creative with family activities, trying to use what we have, and it has been very fun! I am making a point to be healthy by excercising, trying to eat well and even kicking the coffee habit, I must admit I did drink some coffee yesterday, but who is perfect???
The business dream is alive and well and steps towards it are being made very slowly, but all with time.
I already mentioned that the house is for sale and I am working on getting fit but no news yet on the expansion of the family I guess you will just have to stay tuned in ;)
I have been making time to read quite a bit more and I am really enjoying the opportunities that I am able to find, such a blessing. Unfortunately I have not been doing that great in being a month agead on my special occasions, something I am really going for this month- wish me luck!
So lastly an update on keeping on writing this wonderful blog-well I have not done fantastic but you know I have not done completely horrible either, room for improvement for sure just nothing to beat myself up about.
So there, my update on those resolutions, which are only about 1 month old, and it could look worse so I am very excited.
We are well and expecting our encounter!!!

Love & Blessings

God is good

Last night I was invited to a prophetic card party. I had no idea what to expect, only for the Lord to show up and he did in a big way. We were a group of about 16 women and each one of us was given some words for 2010. How amazing to sit and ponder the fact that God knows us, knows our thoughts, our stuggles and dreams. We were all encouraged and blessed beyond comprehension by a faithful father. Thank you Jesus for showing up and letting me know that I am your beloved daughter.
Zander had his second night of Awana Cubbies, and our little man memorized 4 verses to recite, wow we were blown away by his capacity to treasure scripture in his heart. He received his stickers from his teacher and was one happy camper by the end of the night.
Praise the Lord!!!!

Receiving Gifts

Gifts are such wonderful things but my heart was touched this last week after I watched Zander receive a gift from his daddy. Eric returned from working in Idaho and he bought Zander a "Peterbuilt" truck. Oh how Zander has been wanting this particular truck, and on Wednesday morning there it was. His joy and excitement were so pure and so wonderful to watch and then I wondered is that how I receive gifts?? I realized that once an adult alot of the magic that surrounds gifts is lost, after all we know how much it costs, or we picked it out ourselves, or we ask for "useful" gifts, those needed items. But what about those gifts that we receive from our heavenly father, how do we receive those?? With a sense of responsibility, or that air of questioning is this really from you Lord? Or do we sit and ask "did I truly deserve this?" ?
Our God extends gifts to us in much the same manner, if not so much more, as Eric did to Zander, out of pure love and excitement to see his kids face. God wants this from me, that pure untainted joy of receiving a gift from my God. Hold our your arms and open them wide and with a heart of a little child receive all the gifts that God is giving you.

Love & Blessings