Well apparently its been a WHILE since my last post. Like, a long while, or as my husband likes to say it's been "a minute" in his slang, I'm from the streets, I can talk this way, voice. Hee Hee, I love to pick on you Honey!
Any who.
So what's the latest?
In the past year and a half so much has happened. Here is a quick update.
We celebrated the coming of baby #4!
I love this picture, this is what pregnancy glow looks like, yes I'm bragging because most of the time I wasn't glowing. I was sweating. Or waddling. Or in my favorite stretchy clothes. You get the point. This one makes you want to say, "Aww, I could do that again." Then I remember labor. Let me just leave it at that.
We said good bye to our rental home.
I was sad about this. I really did love this little place. So many great memories. We brought Bella home here. It was our almost perfect home. It was right off the freeway, down the street from grocery stores, it was comfy and cozy and just right. It was almost perfect. It had a split backyard, so the garage driveway ran down the middle of the yard and both back-side yards were separately fenced. So instead of one large yard it was two small yards. It was kinda wonky. That and I have a large family and the living room kitchen area was really small and made it really crowded for large gatherings. So aside from the occasional party, where we were squeezed in tight, that house was great.
The kids wanted to help Daddy load the truck. If only...
We bought our first home.
One month before I was due to pop! Moving while 8 months preggo is no bueno. Oh, did I mention school was about the start the week I was due. I had one boy going to first grade and another starting Kinder, and I would be darned if this baby was gonna make me miss my boys first day of Kinder! As always I went a couple days past my due date and was able to see these little guys start school.
We brought our new baby to our new home. That same weekend.
This is baby Caressa.
Well, these days she looks more like this.
I know what you are thinking, "She's so big already!". I know! I feel like in the time it took you to look at that first picture of her in polka dots to this one, is just how quickly she grew. She is a happy, easy going, bouncing, bundle of joy.
I also transitioned from full-time employee to part time employee. Yay me!
I was fortunate enough to have an extremely nice boss that let me bring my baby to work with me.
And I cannot forget our other family addition.
He is hard to see but there is a little electric blue Beta fish in there. His name is Fishes Kisses. Yep. That's what they named him. Poor fish.
This is how I spend most of my days.
And I'm loving it!
Oh, I'm not done yet. These pictures may paint the image of pure happiness and blue skies, rainbows and butterflies but there is more than meets the eye. I can't just share with you all the supposed good and not share the bad. I mean this is the real world.
What you don't see here is the visit to the hospital when Caleb split his forehead open, again.
What you don't see here is the stress of getting a house and how close we were to it all falling through. How we moved out of our rental and moved in to 1-1/2 bedrooms in our in-law's house for a little over a month. It was tight quarters and most of our "life" was in boxes in storage. I was very pregnant and wanted my bed...
What you don't see here is the anxiety and fear I had over adjusting to life with one income + four kids + new house (new mortgage).
What you don't see here is that when I went back to work 4, yes four weeks later with my baby, I still had to leave Bella with a sitter. Let me tell you I was a nervous wreck. The pressure of completing my work assignments while hiding out in one of the back offices and juggling nursing, burping, diaper changes, etc. all in one rushed day. I still had to try and remember to eat lunch, go potty and not pass out from the hormonal fluctuations and hot flashes.
I think you get the point. I can paint a pretty picture but there is always so much more to it. I am no different than the next gal. In the world I live in there is sin. I heard recently on a program the radio host asking the guest who was a mom, "When you were becoming a mom what did you envision life being like compared to what it actually is?" and her response was immediate, "I envisioned everything - minus sin." At that exact moment I said AMEN!
As she went on to explain she pictured well behaved kids at home eating their nutritious meals without complaint and they would all sit and play and craft and just have tons of fun, always. Well, that would be ideal that is what you see in these pictures. But what you don't see is the temper tantrums, the stress headaches, the furrowed brows, the struggle and fears. We are all imperfect people living in an imperfect world, that has sickness and pain and suffering and unforeseen circumstances.
But I have hope. To not tell you about the source of my joy and hope would be a disservice to the God I love. The answer to sin is Jesus. It is through faith in his life and death for my sins that I have found grace and mercy. There is hope in Christ.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress,
or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Romans 8:35
When you scroll through your gallery of photos and remember the good times, take a moment to remember the not so good times. Where was your hope? Who did you lean on for support? To whom did you pray? Call out to Jesus today.
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
Ephesians 2:4-5; 8
Good read, I'm happy for you guys.
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