My Life Changed 4 Months Ago!

I am just loving being a mom! The Lord has blessed us with such a wonderful, beautiful, content little girl! She is growing and changing all the time! All you moms out there can probably relate! It is hard to hold them and view them as perfect but yet they are far from that! I pray constantly for my little Evelyn that the Lord would be working on her little heart even now! That one day she will love him with all her heart!

Evelyn's new thing is playing with faces! She loves to touch my face and hair as I feed her and most of the time I enjoy every moment of it! It is so exciting to see her learning/discovering the world around her! 

Along with that comes the grabbing cheeks and necks and back of arms when sleepiness or frustration sets in for her! I am learning the beginning process of correction and discipline. I am learning just how heartbreaking it can be on a parent to have to reprove their child(ren). Along with that, I am confronted with my natural instinct to react without thinking rationally! It is so much easier to say and judge other parents until you are one and you realize just how difficult it all can be! May I not let my feelings get in the way! Whether it be my compassion getting in the way of my discipline or my own feelings taking charge when I need to be thinking about what is best for the current situation! I know this is only going to be more and more of a challenge and that I have only experienced a tiny bit of this role of parenting!

Evelyn is so close to sitting up on her own! She tries so hard when lying down to sit herself up!  When you sit her up she can stay up for 20-30 seconds before she starts to lean in one direction or the other before she tumbles over. I am guilty of looking away for a split second only to find her face planted. :-/ She also loves to stand but obviously she is far from doing that on her own!

e

This past week she discovered her tongue! And ever since then it tends to be out a good chunk of the time! It is really cute :-) Along with that she tries to do raspberries. She is not able to get her lips to rattle or roll so it kind of turns into her spitting every where! I was walking in a store and she was in her car seat in the cart and was attempting to do them and I felt spit from 5 feet away! I hope I never forget the focus and determination in her face when she does it! She is one dedicated little girl!

With the weather being so nice, we also tried her in the swing at the park! She seemed to like it! (It is often difficult to figure out if Evelyn truly does like something because she is not very vocal about things she likes or doesn't like) You could see her get a bit freaked out if the swing  swung too much. 

(Evelyn with her friend Asher)

Modeling Godliness to Our Daughters

“Are we models of purity to our daughters?

Are we making godly womanhood attractive to them, something they want for themselves?

How they view it begins at home, and it involves much more than the clothes we wear and the TV programs we watch.

It includes how we hand stressful seasons and how we relate to our husbands.

Everything we do reveals either a Christi-oriented heart or a self-oriented heart, and by all we do, we demonstrate to our daughters what we really believe holds value.

If we are careful to protect our hearts for Christ, we are going to be more careful of their hearts, as well.

Our choice to be faithful certainly doesn’t guarantee our daughter’s faithfulness, but we will demonstrate to them that God’s ways are always paths of peace.”

-Lydia Brownback, Purity: A Godly Woman’s Adornment

This is something I have been thinking a lot about!!! I am realizing the task that is at hand as I help to mold and shape my little Evelyn into, one day, a young woman! What will I leave imprinted on her little heart?


Is it...?

      ...worth is found in nothing other than the King!?

         ...a passion to be pure?

         ...a character with self control?

        ...a freedom from bondage of pleasing others instead of solely God?

        ...a heart and will that submits under the authority of God first and foremost but also her husband!?

Or is it...?

     ...worth found in man and the world?

       ...to care a less what she wears and says?

       ...a bondage to what the world says is "beautiful" and how others view her?

       ...a passion for lust and worldly pleasures?

It can be so overwhelming! As I know the words I say, the way I interact with Andy, the way I perceive myself and my God all are crucial into how she herself will conduct herself! We live in a world that puts such a focus on "beauty" and as women it is so easy to get caught up in that! Our daughters are watching and soaking up how we handle that! Are we commenting on how fat we feel? How much we at? That we need to work out? That our faces are getting wrinkled? Are we obsessed with how we look and what others think of us and our appearance! It is so hard to not get caught up in that! But as mothers we need to be very careful with this! We need to be bringing them up with the understanding that we are made in the image of God and that we are "fearfully and wonderfully made!" Break down the lies that media is screaming out to our little girls and bring their eyes to Christ! 

How are you treating your husband? Do you respect him? Do you debate him or argue with him in front of your children? Do you look at him in a way that cuts him down? Our girls will pick this up! They will begin to view him the same way you are showing her to! How you treat your husband will most likely affect how she will one day treat her husband! Respect him ladies! Love him! Serve him! Set the example NOW for you little girl and your boys!!

Are we worried about what other people say or think of us!? Are we trying to please man instead of God? That won't get past our daughters! They see it and they are soaking it in!

Is this 100% on us? If our daughters fall into traps is it directly our fault? No... the world is not our home and they will be affected by the passions of this world and their flesh, at times, will get the best of them! But that does not mean that God is not wanting to use us to make them into the daughters he desires them to be!

I, in no way shape or form, have this all figured out! My daughter is only 4 months old so I do not have complete wisdom in this area! And never will! But I do wish to steward the responsibility I have properly and I will continually pray for the grace, patience, and self control to set a proper example for my children!

The Same Earth But Not The Same World

Sorry I have not posted in quite some time nor posted my 366 photo moments of 2012. Lets just say... kids change things... and my brain just does not seem to work like it did before. I am much foggier than I was and my spirit has seemed to be quite quiet lately. 


Evelyn is doing well! Growing as they all do... but Evelyn is especially growing! She is now 17 lb 1 oz (exactly 9 lbs up from birth weight) and 25 in long (4 inches from birth). Not to mention a 16 3/4 in head! That is 99% for weight, 88% for head, and around 70% for length. What can I say! She is a good eater! She is doing really well at night! Typically goes down at 11pm(ish) and gets up 7:30am(ish) and will sometimes go back down depending on how tired she is. I am currently working on getting her down early but she is just like her mom & dad and is wide awake late at night! She is trying so hard to sit up and loves to stand (not by herself). Grandma Nancy just got her a saucer and she loves being able to see what mom is up to! She is starting to know when you have been out of the room for awhile and she will using start squawking to let you know she is no fool!! Andy & I are just truly blessed with her! We love her so much (as parents do.) A parent's love is just so unfathomable. I wish I could fathom it because I know it would transform my view of God! I wonder if God ever wants to hug us so hard that our heads would pop off... I feel that way sometimes! You just swell up so much over your child. So that is something I want to be praying for! That the Lord would continually use it to turn my eyes to him and open them to see how big He is and how much He loves us! I want to mull that over and just digest it and let it be what gives me energy and passion! 


I am currently going through the book "Created To Be His Help Meet" by Debi Pearl. Amazing book! I recommend it highly (so far!) She has transformed my view of what a wife is to be. What I am called to be! The Lord is using this book to open my eyes to see what Andy needs from me as his wife, his helper, his help meet. I am created to complete him... not the other way around. I am here to serve him... not the other way around! God created man and saw that it was not good for man to be alone (Genesis 2:18)! Staying home is no easy job and it can definitely be a barrier to understanding each other and each other's roles. It is easy for the man to expect many things from the wife and the wife in turn can feel overwhelmed and get defensive on the matter. This my friends, if you stay at home and even if you don't, is our jobs! It should also be our joy! It is not my job to tell my husband who he should be and what he should do. That is God's place. It is my job to provide a home for him and a place for him to   relax when he comes home from work. Is it his role to help raise the children... OF COURSE! That is a partnership and really he should be in charge of it even! Anyways... It has just been a powerful resource for me as I transition from being a working wife to a stay at home mom & wife! It's not as easy as it appears. I get asked often if I am bored yet... Not if I am doing what I should in making sure my husband comes home to a house of order and a child well taken care of! It is truly a beautiful thing and I pray that the Lord would continue to transform me a s a wife and mother! Evelyn is little now but soon she will be watching me very closely... what kind of impression will I leave. What kind of daughter, friend, future wife will I be influencing in her... It is an overwhelming responsibility!


I am being hit more and more with what kind of world she is going to grow up in! All of a sudden it is a world of woman empowerment, homosexuality being viewed as a civil rights issue instead of what it is... sin, view of family being altered. You see so much of how woman are becoming more independent of men! I heard an interesting view on this. They were saying why woman are having more children outside of marriage (carriage before marriage instead of  "then comes marriage then comes the baby in the baby carriage") because of not only the divorce rates in their parents but also because they are becoming the head & providers of the home as they are becoming the more influencing gender and they get paid more than men because of their value! There is something far wrong with that! Our men NEED that! They NEED to feel NEEDED! They need to feel like Prince Charming and Super Man! There is nothing wrong with feeding that into our men! I am just seeing the need at hand to instill things in my sweet little girl that are becoming far from the norm and I am beginning to ask myself... HOW!? I am feeling the desperation of the pressures around as we are beginning to feel the tide of the world become stronger and stronger. I am just praying for so much grace and wisdom in this! I praise God that he has set examples in my life to follow and people to go to for wisdom but most importantly His Word! I need his word! I am failing at feeding off of it and seeking him out! Please pray for me in this area! I need this for my daughter! For my husband as well!

My Time Saving Dinner Secret!

You get home from running errands or various activities and the last thing you feel like doing is whipping together some grub for the family! If you did not plan ahead, as I often do not... you are thinking... "Great... got to get some chicken... out defrost it... cook it up... chop it up and then FINALLY I can get to making dinner." On top of that you have a little one, or multiple little ones, to be entertained and care for all at the same time! Sound familiar?


Before I had Evelyn I was brainstorming ideas of what I could do to make preparing meals easier. It is so important to me to have a warm meal ready for Andy when he gets home! I am his wife, his completer, his helper, and the least I can do is have something healthy for him to eat and not chicken nuggets, corn dogs, and french fries. A man can only eat so much of that! Andy and I are not big meat and potato people! It is good from time to time... but we try to spread out the meat as much as we can to save money. So, we always are putting it in a casserole or pasta dish or something that does not require a big portion of meat. On top of wanting a meal ready for Andy when he gets home, I want to make sure there is leftovers for him to take to work! So whats my secret? 


Well my nesting has helped me out a ton... before I had Evelyn I bought 10 lbs of chicken breast and boiled it in chicken bouillon and shredded it up and froze it in 1 lb increments.  I was not sure how much time it would save... but now I am so relieved I did it! I am going to continue doing it as well!! Now if I get home from somewhere or time snuck up on me... all I have to do is take out a bag of cooked frozen chicken and pop it in the microwave or right into a pan and I do not have to do the tedious defrost.... cook... shread... I use the chicken in Chicken Alfreado, Chicken Enchiladas, Chicken Pot Pie (with crescent rolls for my crust on top), Chicken go-lash, Chicken Tacos... it is wonderful! Thought I would share my tip with you and may it help you in making preparing dinner a whole lot smoother!

366 Captured Moments of 2012 continued!

Jan. 24th- Andy got Evelyn to stand just long enough for me to take the picture. I put it up on facebook saying that she took her first steps sarcastically because I figured everyone would know she is too little still... well let's just say we had people a bit confused... oops.. :-/

Jan. 25th- Evelyn hanging out in her Bumbo! She never lasts very long though... enough for a BIG smile!

 Jan. 26th- This was a very special weekend for us as Evelyn got to meet her Great Grandpa & Grandma Scholta. My grandparents live in AZ and my grandpa has not been doing so well so we are VERY blessed they were able to make it up for a visit! He is 93 might I add :-) I will never forget it!

Jan. 27th- Evelyn soaking up the heat! Fell asleep right away :-)

Jan. 28th- Evelyn sporting an adorable hat that my good friend Sage gave to me before she was born! Even daddy thinks the hat is adorable!

Jan. 29th- Samson and Evelyn getting along just fine!!

Jan. 30th- Evelyn loves baths but they are exhausting!!

Evelyn- 11 Weeks Old!

So it has been 9 weeks since my last post... so I figured it is about time to post again!


I am loving being Evelyn's mom! I thought watching her grow would be hard and something I would dread. I thought that telling others how big she is getting would be bitter but yet it is all so fun and bittersweet! I thank God constantly for providing me with a healthy and super content baby! She rarely cries except for when she is not getting fed as fast as she would like (have to keep up on all those cute rolls you know! hehe) or if she is tired and wants to be cuddled just right in order to drift to sleep!


Andy is a wonderful father! Even better than what I imagined, I always knew he would be an amazing father! Everyday he looks forward to coming home to see her and love on her! He constantly tells her how beautiful she is and how much he loves her! When we are out in public he always wants to be the one to carry her so he can show her off. I just can't help but think of all those kids who are not blessed with a father like Andy and it breaks my heart as well as reminds me how much I have to be thankful for!

Andy holding Evelyn right after she was born!

Andy holding her on Christmas Eve

Evelyn is a social thing! Loves to say "coo" and "ah boo" as well as squeal and smile! I have  begun to notice, well other people have noticed, that if I am moving around a room or out of a room she is looking around for me. Makes a mother's heart melt.. well until it turns into blood-curdling screaming when you leave the room... which thankfully is not the case... yet I should say... She is feeding like a champ! Last I weighed her... which was a few weeks ago... she was 13lb 3 oz (give or take). So Now I would guess she has to be 13.5-14lb at least! She is the size of some of our friend's 4-6 month olds... crazy! It was only a few weeks ago that the 3 mo clothes barely fit and now some of them should probably be put away already! She is sleeping through the night at 5-7 hour stretches and then she will go back to sleep for another 3 hours or so. Yay! I love that :-) She is starting to want to sit up (obviously she can't... but she tries!) and loves to be stood up and be talked to! 

A few things I am doing to try and capture the moments as the days zip by is daily photos and emails to Evelyn. On facebook I took on a challenge to take pictures capturing day to day moments and not just the big ones that you remember anyways but taking joy in the small things that he Lord blesses us with each and every day! It is a great way for me to kind the wonderful aspects of each day! It is so easy to feel that some days are so insignificant and to say that the Lord has given us an insignificant day just seems completely against his character. He is working everyday... he never sleeps... never takes a break... so that means there is something going on everyday that I should be transformed by! It is not just about Evelyn... it can be as silly as the dog or a landscape or other people the Lord has brought in my life! Another thing I am doing is sending e-mails to Evelyn. I once was told by someone that they have journals for there children and they write down things about them for them to cherish someday. I just know my lack of motivation... and I know I would not do so well! But I always have either my phone, kindle fire, or laptop by me... so there are no excuses! I got the idea of sending emails to Evelyn from that google commercial where the day sends notes, photos, and videos to his daughter (I am not creative enough to come up with it myself so I don't want to take credit for it!). So I decided to take on that challenge as well!! 


I am trying to get back to life now that Evelyn is growing and growing! Back to cooking meals to have ready for Andy when he gets home. Keeping up on the house and laundry as well! Trying to remember to feed the dog and make sure has water... as well as water my poor plants! Taking time for Andy and also for myself (Evelyn has been so gracious to let me enjoy a warm shower every day so that I feel productive as long as I got myself ready for the day!) I am trying to really keep motivated to make time for quiet time for the Lord.. and it has been REALLY hard for me... So if you could be praying for that! I need to get back in the word!!!


 So many people think that staying home is simply me holding my baby... sitting on the couch on the computer or in front of the TV. There is that... but there are chores to do, a baby to feed, play with, rock, change, and put to sleep. And it is a 24 hour deal... not a 9 hour deal. I love it though! Every minute! To bless Evelyn and bless and serve my husband! I am not bored... and I do not imagine I will get bored as it is only a matter of time before Evelyn is busy and mobile. Plus I am already being asked when we can try for another... oh man... so life is going to continue to change. NOT saying we are going to be trying to get pregnant quite yet... I just started feeling like myself again and I am still in maternity pants so I still want to some time to enjoy feeling myself and enjoy Evelyn! hehe So that can wait!!!


So here is my 366 Captured Moments of 2012 thus far!

Jan. 1st- Cuddling with a big ol' bear!

Jan. 2nd- Proof that Samson Loves Evelyn!

Jan. 3rd- Tea with Auntie Pono

Jan. 4th- Evelyn wearing the shirt that Auntie Lynsey Gave her.

Jan. 5th

Jan. 6th- First day I was able to get her to hold a toy!

Jan. 7th

Jan. 8th- Wearing Mommy's ring

Jan. 9th- Monthly Growth Update

Jan. 10th

Jan. 11

Jan. 12th- Angel's wings!

Jan. 13th- Grandpa Owen trying to "scare" Evelyn when she woke up!

Jan. 14th

Jan. 15th- Tummy/Get That Gas OUT time!

Jan. 16th- Hanging out with Grandpa Owen

Jan. 17th- First time in High Chair and observing mom boil 10 lbs of Chicken to shred and freeze for quick and easy meals!

Jan. 18th- Wanting to watch the TV so she decided upside down would work. She likes the lights and movement!

Jan. 19th- My beautiful naked baby!

Jan. 20th- "La Cucaracha... La Cucaracha..." I found out that meant Cockroch! EW! But thats the song that went through my head taking this picture!

Jan. 21st- Evelyn with her friend Everett... holding hands!! UH OH! Everett & Evelyn... has a nice ring to it ;-) But seriously she is not dating until she is at least... 30! JK

Jan. 22nd- All ready for Church! It is also Grandpa Owen's 54th birthday!

Jan. 23rd- Evelyn loves being put in the air like an airplane or hanging out on my legs. She smiles really big every time!

I know that is lots of picture but I hope you enjoyed! I am going to try to be better at undating!

Evelyn Grace

So as of yesterday it had been two weeks since my sweet little girl made her entrance into the world... so I figured it was about time that I post about it before the memories start to fade on me!

Here is how it all played out...

I had been having an increased amount of braxton hicks throughout the week of my due date. On Sunday, November 6th, I noticed that I was discharging some mucus and then I did end up losing my mucus plug at around 3pm. Andy and I decided to go see a movie that night because I was not suspecting that anything would be happening anytime soon. So we spent some time out together and came home and I decided to head to bed. Andy was up watching some tv show episodes on the computer. I had been noticing tightening every four minutes but nothing painful so I did not think much of it. Well I got up to go to the bathroom at about 11:30-11:45 and as I was getting out of bed I felt a release of fluid. With losing my mucus plug earlier I figured it was still just working parts out so I did not think for a minute that it could have been my water breaking. Well I made my way to the bathroom and I could not stop "peeing," so I thought. I called out to Andy and he told me to stand up and that if I was still releasing fluid that it was my water. Well sure enough I stood up and could not stop it. 

We called the midwives and because I tested positive for Group B Strep, they wanted me to come in right away to start the antibiotics. After my water had broken I had noticed that I was starting to experience some cramping, almost felt like intense menstrual cramping. We got the hospital and they hooked me up to the antibiotics and I tried to rest as much as I could. Well... my body never kicked into labor so they started Pitocin on Monday morning.  I spent the day kicking up the levels of Pitocin to get labor going... I was having contractions but they were either not frequent enough, intense enough, long enough, or the time in between was too long. My body just got to a point of complete discomfort. I was feeling a lot of it in my back. I even tried to take a bath and could not manage to get comfortable at all. After being on Pitocin all day they decided to take me off and give me some morphine to sleep. You can only be on Pitocin for so long before it is really no longer effective. The nurse told that I would be put back on at 5 in the morning because they wanted to get things going as early as they could. 

Well, I woke up on Tuesday and it was way past 5 and I had not seen any nurses or midwives yet to get antibiotics or pitocin or vitals or anything going. I was beyond frustrated! Well we finally got back on the pitocin at about 11 and finally saw a midwife at that point. I guess it was a busy morning in the maternity unit with lots of woman in labor. Not something you want to hear when your water has broken and you have yet to go into labor. I was to the point where I wanted to just drop everything and leave everything there and go home. I did not see how it could be worth it anymore. So I spent the day waiting for the Pitocin to have an effect. At around 3 o'clock one of the midwives came in and talked to Andy and I about doing an internal monitor in order to really manage the contractions and get things (hopefully) rolling faster since there was really only a few more hours before I would have to be taken off the pitocin again and brave another day of it. At this point I was only about 3 cm (after almost 39 hours since my water broke..) Andy and I ended up deciding to go with the internal monitor. 

At about 6 o'clock I was finally in active labor and feeling the intensity of the contractions! I labored on the birthing ball as well as walked the halls but as the hours went on I was so uncomfortable... I tried laboring in the tub and could not sit on my butt at all... so I went back to the bed and finished out my labor on my hands and knees. It felt amazing to have all that pressure off... I actually remember dozing off in between contractions! At about 8 o'clock I was dilated to a 6 and finally at 10 o'clock I told the midwife I was feeling a ton of pressure and felt like I had to poop and could not help but push. So she checked me again and I was 9.5 cm and completely effaced and she said I could start pushing after 5 contractions. Prior to my last check Andy had called my mom to come relieve him for a little bit. My poor husband had been cooped up for two days and watched many episodes of 24 on the computer to keep some sort of sanity! Little did my mom know that when she walked into the room I was starting to push!!

So about 10:15-10:20, I was told I could start pushing. Of course it was uncomfortable... but there is something about being able to push that makes things so much better. No longer are you focusing on getting through the contractions and breathing through them but you can actually do something with that pressure in order to get one step closer to holding your baby! I wish I could put into words what it felt like to push a baby out but it is not easy to explain. After about 40 minutes, at exactly 11 o'clock on November 8th, Evelyn Grace Hentges FINALLY made her entrance into the world at 8 lb 1.4 oz 21 inches long!  We are so glad she is here with us!! Also, we managed it all without any pain meds! Yay! I was at points where I was wanting something to take the edge off but did not have the energy to ask for it so I just sustained through the contractions taking them as they came.

It has definitely been a time of adjusting. I was freaking out the first few days until my milk came in, concerned that I was unable to nourish my baby. Of course I knew that the colostrum is full of wonderful nourishment for the baby... it is just crazy that such a small amount of something can keep a baby thriving and hydrated... So now we are adjusted to feeding, for the most part... she wants to eat ALL the time though! Still trying to decipher when she is actually hungry and when she just wants to do it for comfort! We have our good nights and our bad nights... working through some gas issues I believe. We are currently doing the gripe water and leg pumping but she does not like the taste of the gripe water and only seems to get frustrated when we rub her belly and pump her legs... So I am learning to pray a lot more!  :-) I have not really had time or energy to dive into the Word :-( but man am I praying more than I ever have! I have had the privilege of being able to pray over Evelyn in my arms as well as praying past the breastfeeding frustrations and gassy belly! I was expecting my motherly instincts to just kick in right away... but they really did not! I found myself staring at her for days wondering what to do with her and now this week finally I feel like things are clicking and I am experiencing much joy even in the frustration!

I am so SO thankful for my husband! He has been such an awesome support and cheerleader! Seeing him with Evelyn just warms my heart! I feel like his fatherly instinct kicked in way before my motherly instinct kicked in. He is simply amazing! He stood by my side every minute while we waited for my body to do SOMETHING in the hospital. He was with me when I wanted to just curl up in a ball and quit and go home and forget everything! And He was with me to rub my back when I was finally in labor and was down and determined to birth Evelyn on November 8th! He was there for me to wipe my tears and pick me up with I lay in the bath tub in tears after no sleep and frustrated with feeding. He also sat by my side many times when I was feeding Evelyn to encourage me and help me keep Evelyn awake. He is a rare gem... I am more and more in love with him each passing day as I realize what the Lord has entrusted me with! As Thanksgiving is tomorrow I am overwhelmed with what the Lord has brought our way this year and I am overjoyed for what he has in store for us in the year to come! I pray for continual peace and joy when things get hard and grace when I fall! Not to mention the ability to soak up every sweet memory and not let any of it pass by!

I have tried to get this picture to rotate the right way and can't... so I gave up :-)