Witnessing the Miracle of Birth once again.

My Aunt Sara had asked me to be with her when she had her baby. She's about my age; so she's really more like a cousin or even a sister than an Aunt. On Thursday my mom called me and talked to me about how Sara was coming along in her pregnancy. I had heard so many different due dates that I wasn't sure which was the right one; but Mom told me that Sara was due in about 2 weeks! Time had crept up on me! I hadn't talked to anyone about watching my kids while I went up there or anything. I had plans to get that all figured out on Friday.

Well about 3 in the morning Sara called me and said she was probably in labor. She was early enough that I wondered if it could be false labor, but she sounded like she wanted me to come be with her; so I packed up some things along with my kids and headed to brownsville. I had to make a last minute phone call to Sis. Connie to see if I could take my kids to her house. It is sooo wonderful that you can call the sisters in the middle of the night like this and have them willing to watch 4 small children at a moments notice! Sis. Connie if you are reading this I REALLY appreciated this!

When I got to my mom's house Sara was definitely in labor; and for the rest of the day we all played the waiting game. Sara did really well during labor, but of course she was getting tired of being in this much pain with no immediate results. There were no complications whatsoever, but it was just taking time. Especially with a first baby this was very normal, but hard. We were getting into the evening, and there was still no baby. Sara was getting to that point where she was feeling like she needed to get some extra strength from somewhere. She asked me to call the brethren and tell them that if any of them felt like coming to pray for her that they could and she would really appreciate it. When I left the room the pains just didn't seem quite hard enough, Sis. Cindy could feel the baby when she checked, but we couldn't see it yet; so I was telling everyone that it would probably still be awhile, but Sara was getting tired and needed some extra strength. I hadn't finished my phone calls when I heard a commotion in the bedroom. Me being the person that I am didn't want to miss out on anything; so I abandoned my phone calls and rushed into the bedroom. Within a minute or two we had a little baby boy!

I have to say that I really thought that things would be worse than they were. I didn't expect any fatalities or anything, but I just thought it would be harder than it was. I guess the Lord heard all our prayers and things went REALLY well. I guess that's what I get for shortening God's arm as they say. I'm so glad the Lord proved my ideas and fears wrong!

Here are the important details:

Jack Dean Elliott, born January 25th 2008, 5:20 p.m., he was 5 1/4 lbs., 18 in. long.

He's pretty small, but seems healthy. We have been a little worried about him getting the nourishment he needs since he's so small, but we've all been working hard to get him to eat; and I think he's doing pretty good.

My job was being the picture taker; so I'm posting some pictures.

Here's little baby Jack with his proud new Daddy.

Here he is with the midwife, Sis. Cindy.

Little Jack on his first day after getting cleaned up, dressed and bundled.

Here he is on his second day. I just think he's sooo cute! I of course went wild shopping for him on Saturday!

Here's the proud new Mommy!

Little Jack sleeping in the family cradle. It was originally made for Eric (Sara's brother). There's been a lot of family babies that have used this crib. He's also bundled up in an afghan that was made for Eric.

Here's Jack on his 3rd day. I, of course, requested he wear one of the many outfits I got him before I left! This one was small enough to fit him OK; and it's soooo soft.

On Sunday I finally brought my kids over to see the new arrival. Here I am showing him to them. They thought he was pretty special.

Well now I'm back home, but it was such an honor to get to see and have a small part in the miracle of birth!

United in Prayer

It seems like especially lately I've been hearing about a lot of people who are in need of prayers. Mostly because of some illness. A lot of times when I receive this news I at least call the brethren here to let them know to be praying. Sometimes I feel bad to be passing on this bad news all the time; but I know that if it were me I'd want as many brethren praying for me as possible.

We all have heard about how prayer can be pretty powerful. Sometimes if feels like that prayer is such a small thing and you don't really think it can make much of a difference. I have seen how prayer has real turned a situation around when it seems like it wasn't possible. We all know that prayer works.

What I'm thinking about tonight is a little bit different. I was thinking about how praying for our brethren; and knowing our brethren are praying for us brings us together somehow, closer. Like prayer connects us together with God. When we pray for our brethren we are thinking of their needs, trials etc. and it brings us away from our own problems and makes us think about others.

Tonight we went to Bro.Dennis & Sis. Trina's house. We visited for awhile and then we decided to play a game. During the game Sis. Chantel called and told us that Sis. Dawn was doing really bad and that she needed prayers. When Sis. Trina hung up we all got down together on the floor and prayed for Sis. Dawn. It was a very special moment for me. It not only helped me to think about Sis. Dawn's Trial, but it somehow made me feel closer to those I was praying with. It especially touched my heart to hear Bro. Dennis and Sis. Trina's boys pray. I really enjoyed hearing their prayers and seeing the evidence that the Faith is being handed down. One of their boys even prayed that they were thankful that we had come over that evening, and that really made me feel good.

Prayer is a very powerful and special thing; and I'm so glad that it's something that I can share freely with my brethren.

After we all prayed Bro. Dennis started putting the game away. He didn't really say anything, but I was glad he put it away. It didn't seem right somehow to go back to our game. Sis. Dawn needed our thoughts and prayers, and so we became united in prayer.

The Faith and the brethren are such a wonderful gift. All too often I take them both for granted; but it sure is nice to hear my brethren pray for me. And to know that even when I'm far away I always have the power of prayer.

The Potty Training Roller Coaster!!!

I'm sure all of you (or most of you) know what I'm going through with Anthony right now. Potty Training can be a very trying experience for parents.

It took awhile for Anthony to even cooperate with me and potty train. My other two were already completely potty trained (except for bed wetting , which we still need to master) at this point. I can now finally say that Anthony is being potty trained. He's probably doing pretty good really, but I just want it to be over!!!!! Here's the low down on my roller coaster ride...

He started out, of course where I was having to change his underwear a lot of times a day. He would go potty in his pot, but would not keep his underwear dry; so I was down. Finally one day he'd wet his underwear an uncountable amount of times; he hadn't messed his pants yet that day, and I was just dreading having to clean that up. That evening Matt and I kept sending him to the toilet over and over again until finally he pooped in the pot!! Yeah! We were so excited about it! We made a HUGE big deal about it! So I was up:) I had thought that if we could get him to poop on the toilet just one time he would understand how great it was he would want to do it again. The next couple of days he did really good about keeping his underwear dry; so I was up:) But he kept messing in his underwear, so I was down:( Then he did fairly good about keeping his underwear dry, and just when I was putting him to bed he said "Mommy I need my Pull-Up off". I asked him if he needed to go potty, and he said he did; so he went downstairs (for some reason he likes the downstairs bathroom best) When I got down there after him he was sitting on the big pot (usually he goes in the little one) and he was pooping!!! Yeah!! I was very happy because this time he had done it by himself basically! It is amazing how excited you can get about these things! Matt and I made a huge deal about it again; so we were up:) The next day he didn't keep his underwear dry very good and he messed in them again. Argghh! So down we go again:(

well today is a new day; so wish me well on my potty training journey!

Sweet Smelling Savor

I've been thinking a lot lately about a prophesy I got when I was just young in the faith, about 16 or 17...

We were at the Colorado campmeetings, and I was sitting in meeting one day. There were a lot of people getting up, and I so badly wanted to be a part of it. I really prayed that God would give me something to do, but it didn't seem like he wanted me to do anything. Now looking back I can see how foolish I was, but Satan started whispering to me that God didn't have any use for me and that I should just give up. I started having my doubts about my usefullness to the Lord. I prayed that God would send a big wind through the church tent that I could just know that he still cared for me. No wind came. Of course I was feeling pretty aweful by this time; and I started thinking that there was no reason to try if God didn't have any use for me anymore. Then I started looking around at all the brethren gathered around me. I began to think about what they would do if they saw me give up. Would I influence others to do the same? So I had come to the mind that I needed to continue to live the faith so that I could at least help my brethren get there; even if there wasn't a spot for me anymore. Now I can see how thinking God didn't care for me was really stupid, but I was young. About that time Bro. Lee Bosch came to me and spoke me a prophesy. There was more to it about things that were going on in my life, but what has stuck with me the most is God told me that my sacrifice was surely pure and that it was a sweet smell unto him. This prophesy was so much better than a big wind!

Sometimes in my life when I feel like my sacrifice is no longer quite what it ought to be I remember that prophesy. I believe the pure sacrifice that God loved so much was that I was willing to live the Faith for my brethren and not myself. I had gotten to the point where I felt like I would get nothing, but that I felt like I needed to keep going so that my brethren could get what I wanted so bad. The pure sacrifice was a selfless one. I am so glad that God taught me that lesson that day. I've fallen back on it so many times in my life. If I would have just gotten the wind like I asked I would not have learned the lesson I did. God sure does know what he's doing so much better than we do.

Please pray for me that my sacrifice could be that pure sacrifice and that I could be a sweet smell unto the Lord once again. Thanks.

Garrison's First Haircut

(sigh) We finally decided that it was about time to give our baby his first haircut. We hated to see his adorable little curls go, but his hair was getting in his eyes; and we figured that was a sign that he needed this haircut. Here are some before and after pictures. I didn't think to take some just before; and my most recent pictures got deleted, but I found a faily recent one that showed how shaggy he was getting...

As you can see, he still has a little bit of curls left. We couldn't bring ourselves to cut them all off. Matt only wanted to cut the top, and leave the back curls in tact; but I DID NOT want that; so I intervened and got the back curls shortened too. He doesn't look so much like a baby anymore (sigh)

Resolutions

I have debated about whether or not to post these, but I thought that if I put them on here; it might make me more motivated to work on these things. So here goes...

1. Stop being selfish. This is the one thing I can see that I need the most work on. There's a lot of things I can see in my life that need improvement and a lot of it has to do with the fact that I am a selfish person. This is a hard fact for me to admit, but believe me, it's true. There's a lot of aspects in my life that will get better if I stop having a "what's in it for me" attitude and just do things with an unselfish and willing heart. I really need prayers with this one.

2. Get closer to God. I know that I'm not nearly as close to the Lord as I need to; or even as close as I have been before. I want to get back to the relationship I once had with him where I could have conversations with him; and even say a little prayer for guidance and know what the Lord wants of me almost immediately. Sometimes I feel like I'm just floundering, not really sure how the Lord wants me to go about my life.

3. Get closer to my husband. I feel like Matt and I have a pretty good relationship, but lately things have been a little strained. We're not having major marital problems, mind you; but I can see where if we don't start repairing it when it's a little off, we could blink our eyes one day and wonder how our marriage got so horrible. however I think that if I can get the first 2 resolutions figured out this one will follow pretty easy.

4. Lose 15 lbs. This one is not nearly as important as the other 3, but I would really love to lose that extra 15 lbs. Last year I wanted to lose 20 lbs, but only lost 15. If I can lose 15 more I'll be right where I want to be.

There are so many other things I need to work on, but if I can fulfill these ones my life will be so much better; and I believe that so many aspects of my life will be affected by them.

This has been a little hard for me because I want everyone to believe that I am the perfect person with the perfect life (like they really believe that anyway), but the truth is I feel like I am so much worse than I feel like people perceive me. I see so many people that seem to have their life so much more together than I do. I really need help in these things and I would like the support and prayers of my blogging buddies. Thank you all very much!

Visitors

Matt's mom came and stayed a few days with us. The kids really enjoy having her around. She was going to watch all of our kids while we were in Brownsville so that we could go on a date, but there never seemed to be time with everything else that was going on; so Wednesday night Matt and I went on a date. It was very nice to have some time just for ourselves. We went to an Italian restaurant that I have been wanting to try out, but didn't dare take the kids to! The food was good. It was SO nice to enjoy the meal just the 2 of us. I had gotten a gift certificate for Christmas; so we went to Christopher and Banks at Streets of Tanasbourne. We've never been to that shopping center. We really liked it! If it hadn't been so cold we would have browsed longer. I got a nice new outfit, and Matt got a hoodie that was on sale at Hollister. He's really into these brand names. Since we don't get out by ourselves very often anymore we decided that it was ok to splurge a little! We came home a little early, but it was nice to get out.

Thursday Sis. Trish came over. She stayed a few days with us, and then took Linda home. She had something she had to take back to IKEA. Her and Linda were just going to go by themselves and I was going to stay home and try to get some things done; but I could tell that Trish was nervous about driving in Portland, and I was courious about IKEA. I'd never been there before; so we all ended up loading up and all going together. It was quite an ordeal trying to figure out how to get to IKEA. It was frustrating, we would pass it, but see no way to get to it. Finally we found it! I am now an IKEA fan! It was such a great place! We wish we could have had more time to browse around. I decided that someday I want to take Matt there. He really enjoys that kind of thing.

Friday I invited all the sister's here to come for lunch to visit with my visitors. Sis. Marisela came with all her kiddos. The other sister's couldn't make it. That was kind of a bummer, but we enjoyed Marisela. We had some lunch and then we played a few hands of cards while we visited. Friday evening we decided to go visit Rusty and Mary. I hadn't been to their house yet, and I've been looking forward to getting to know them better. I was glad we went. We had talked about going to see a movie, but decided to go visiting instead. I'm glad we did. We enjoyed our time at their house. We played some games. I think I was always on the losing team, but enjoyed myself anyway!

Saturday Gramma and Sis. Trish had to go. Our kids were sad to see them go, but we were glad they got to come for awhile. That afternoon we took care of some errands and took the kids to a movie/arcade. They really enjoyed it, and were fairly well behaved.

Sunday was literally a day of rest for us! It was nice to just relax.

Monday was spent getting ready for the party that night and more company that was coming to spend the night. Mark and Kim were coming home from Brewster and had dinner with us, and went to the New Year's Eve party with us and spent the night. They had to leave the next morning, but we were glad to get to see them.

Monday night the brethren here got together at the place we have church and ate snacks and played games until it was time to bring in the New Year together. I really enjoyed it. I felt like it helped us to be closer together. I enjoy spending time with everyone. Again I don't think I won any games, but had fun anyway!

Anywhere, there's a little update on how crazy my life has been. Today things are back to normal! I only wish I had pictures to post about all this... Oh well, I guess it doesn't do any good to cry over spilt milk.

Mourning lost pictures

We had a great weekend in Brownsville for Christmas. I know I'm a little late blogging about our Christmas. I should have blogged sooner because when I went to download all of my great Christmas photos my camera said that my memory card needed formatting and when I did that it deleted all my pictures! So I have no pictures of this Christmas. What a rotten deal! I have no idea why my memory card did that. I haven't even touched my memory card in months! So anyway, I'm a little bummed that all those pictures are gone. It's a good thing that the memories can't be deleted too...

We had a good time. The first few days of the weekend we spent with Matt's mom, Linda. Things were pretty relaxed; we had a little gift exchange with her. The kids always enjoy spending time with thier Grandma Linda!

Saturday we went to a Christmas party at one of Matt's cousin's house. It was nice to see Linda's family again. None of them are in the faith, but we still enjoy catching up with them sometimes.

Sunday afternoon Linda had other plans, but we actually entertained company at her house (she of course, was ok with this) Bro. Ted & Sis. Tina McCracken, Bro. Rocky & Sis. Tammi Easter & Sis. Amber McCracken were at church so we couldn't pass up the opportunity to have them over and get to visit with them. My sister Wenona brought her family over too. It was nice to get to visit with everyone. I actually enjoyed playing hostess at someone else's house!

Sunday night we spent with my Dad and Mom. Christmas Eve morning we let the kids each open one gift. Matt thought they would have more of an opportunity to play with them; and he was probably right. I did a little bit of baking and then we spent a couple hours in the afternoon visiting with my Grandpa. After that we went to Josh and Alicia's house (my other sister) and ate snacks and played games. The kids exchanged gifts. They each had drawn a name so each child ended up with a gift bought especially for them. My parent's have 15 grandkids, so it got pretty crazy, but they did pretty well. We enjoyed playing games. We especially enjoyed Apples to Apples. This was our first time to play that game and we had a lot of fun. We ended up staying pretty late.

That evening Matt also picked up a seat for our van that has built in carseats. Someone was selling it and they actully welcomed us picking it up on Christmas Eve because they needed the money for their Christmas trip. The seat has been VERY nice to have.

The kids actually slept in on Christmas morning (we were thankful) They unwrapped their gifts, we had breakfast; then mom and I got busy on our part of Christmas dinner. Mom had rented a place in Brownsville that has a little kitchen and more space for all of us. It was nice to be able to spread out. We ate a HUGE dinner, there was so many leftovers it was almost sinful ;)! We had a visitor just come in and we offered her some food. I don't know her story, but she had some mental problems I think. She spent the night with Dad and Mom.

We had to leave that evening because Matt had to work the next day. We took Linda home with us because she had the week off. The kids did really good on the drive home and we made really good time.