Joyful in Hope

          So, It has been a long time since I have posted and it has been gnawing on me for awhile!!! I let life get me so busy and then the end of the day finds me before I know it! Evelyn is a year now! Already almost 13 months! She has been walking for the past month and half and it has made life quite interesting!! She is a busy girl! She is also very observant and at times it freaks me out how much she is soaking up! She will see something on TV that looks like a sign she knows and she will start signing what she thinks they are signing. She does not forget things! She knows where the dog food is located and currently she knows which ornaments on our tree will make noise when mommy is not looking! She is little copy cat too! You laugh, she laughs... you dance, she dances... you growl, she growls. She loves to just study people and figure out how, why, and what they can do! I am seeing more and more that the Lord has blessed her with a teachable spirit and I, as her mother, am starting to feel guilty that I am not nurturing that as much as I can! Her favorite activity right now is reading!! We are reading the same books over... and over... and over again! She also loves climbing stairs over... and over... and over again. 

          Evelyn is definitely keeping me busy... And things are only going to get busier in the Hentges's household because we are expecting Baby Hentges #2 in Mid-June 2013! And what a ride it has been already!! This pregnancy has been a whole lot tougher on me than my pregnancy with Evelyn. There are so many similarities but they just all seem to be heightened!! The nausea from 6 weeks to 10 weeks was pretty difficult! I did not have that so much with Evelyn, just at night, this was ALL DAY! The fatigue has definitely been affecting me more, but I am sure that is because I do not get to sleep like I did with Evelyn! I have also been getting heartburn daily for the past month or so and I do not remember getting that until much later with Evelyn. I am also starting to show a whole lot quicker too, which I know is to be expected! So I have been hanging in there for past couple months! Waiting for the relief to hit and the energy to return and the joy to fill my heart over the anticipation of baby #2.

         I will just be honest with you, I have been struggling with much guilt the last couple months. Guilt as a mom who can't give her daughter the attention and engagement she once could. Guilt as a wife as my drive to cook, clean, laundry, or even be intimate with my husband has been extremely difficult! Guilt over the thoughts and the feelings I have been wrestling with. Those being, whether pregnancy is worth it... all the sick feelings worth it... How could I feel that way over such an amazing, beautiful blessing. How could I even ask myself such a thing!? But I have... often... I have struggled to feel that I am failing my family and my walk with the Lord! If you have been following me for a while you may recall a post I wrote when pregnant with Evelyn how pregnancy is a gift of grace. Well, I am learning a whole new aspect of grace in pregnancy. The first time around it was just about God giving me a gift that I truly did not deserve, a baby, and how it is only by grace that the baby sustains and grows. This time, it is totally about God's grace on me and my inability to do it all! That even when I am struck with complete laziness or just my struggle to be a good wife and mom is completely covered by God's grace.

 2 Corinthians 12:9 

     But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.    

       How wonderful, how beautiful is the grace of God! Not that I can use that as an excuse but God does not reward me or take things from me just solely based on what I do. He is not Santa Clause... He is a sovereign God who loves his children and knows his purpose for them and their life! So it is just very interesting to me what the Lord is teaching me this time around! It is not working through the worry of the little baby growing inside me, but this time it is working through the struggle to sustain and serve my family! 

     This past week our pastor was preaching from John 14:1-3. He was spurring us on to Heaven and our anticipation of it! He stressed the fact that Heaven is not just some altered state of mind or involves us hanging out on the clouds but it is a place! It is our HOME! It will be a new heaven and earth! It is not about mansions and it is definitely not an apartment but it is a place of NO VACANCY! We do not have to worry about one day getting there and not being able enter because there is no room... we will only not enter when we are not reconciled with God. Anyways, how this connected with me was just how often I struggle to anticipate and take hope in the fact that I have a HOME in Heaven with my Savior! How the worries of the world and the darkness around me so often discourage me and where I am at. You get through an election like we just had and it can be hard to keep our head up. I found myself relating that with this current pregnancy. I have struggled to see the bigger picture, that it will be worth it! That the Lord has a plan in this!! I so often forget about the glory of Heaven and it being full of joy and splendor  I must be forgetting the little piece of heaven a newborn brings. Don't get me wrong I am excited to be able to welcome a new little one into this world! I know the Lord has a great plan in store for our family and for this little one's life! I do not wish I could change a thing!! Other than my lack-of-better-terms, poor attitude :-) The Lord has been so GOOD to Andy & I and we are truly, TRULY blessed! 

Please pray for me, that this pregnancy would be used for the glory of God! That I would take joy in all that he is doing around me and inside of me! That I would be able to serve my family as God so desire and that I will take time to glean in the LORD first and foremost!! Especially to praise and glean in the Lord with my little girl!! That her heart would too take joy in the Lord! Thank you all and it is good to be back with you all!

My Not So Little Anymore 7 Month Old!

    Evelyn is growing like a mad woman! She is probably around 21 lbs and 28 inches long. Its been a month since we have weighed or measured her! She has recently popped her first tooth and has another one out and working its way up to the other tooth! It is SO adorable to see the toothy grins now! I love it! We have started giving her various foods. Sweet potatoes, whole peas, and puffs being her favorites! I am seeing more and more that she wants to use her gums and not be fed purees. Not only is she ambitious in her eating but also in her drinking. She likes water! But out of a plain cup and not a sippy cup. As soon as I get the cup up to her mouth she gets that jaw just-a-going!

   She has and is still infatuated with her hands! I will look over and there she is waving and twisting her hands in deep, deep observation! It makes me laugh! I try to say "HI!" or "Buh-bye" whenever she starts waving those hands of hers! She sometimes gets it and other times is completely confused by it! She has been sitting up like a pro for over a month now and is starting to reach more and more for things further away from her! Not sure how long it will be when she finally learns how to reach her objective in getting to those objects! I can wait though! She is getting to be very busy! I am learning I have to be very aware of what is in reach of her as she has been known to get a hold of things she should not, like a bowl of hot soup! :-(

  My little girl is starting to become very aware of the people around her and deciding whether or not they are familiar or not! Even people that she sees often, she finds it very necessary to stare and observe them for quite some time before she can smile or chat with them! Along with sometimes being uncertain of people, she also does not like me living her in a room! She wants me make sure she is not missing out on anything, even if it is to go wash out a poopy diaper or put dishes in the sink. 

                                                                                                     Evelyn hanging out in the pool with her friends Ava & Claire

  The one thing that I treasure most with Evelyn is nursing her. I never thought I would enjoy nursing so much! In the day it is not as enjoyable as there are things that we both want to be doing! But at night, as she is drifting in and out of sleep she caresses my arm or plays with my hair, which is by far my most favorite thing! I am my mother's and grandmother's (grand)daughter.

  Evelyn just adores Samson, our beloved dog! He is the one who makes her giggle and brings her so much joy! To be honest, he has just been driving me nuts since we had Evelyn! But it warms my heart to see my little girl growing such a deep love for Samson! I pray one day that I will get to see that same joy in her eyes for the Lord! She is so in tune to what he is doing and his bark! She jumps at other dogs, even cries sometimes, when they bark. Not Brother Samson though! We call him "Brother Samson." When he chases his tail or runs outside around in a circle, that girl gets the belly giggles! 

    I hear her often in her crib bringing her legs up in the air and slamming them down on her mattress... Andy has told me many times that she does in the middle of the night as well!! Crazy girl! She also loves her walker and her exer-saucer. Her main objective is to get places! So she just gets-a-jumping! Her exer-saucer has worked its way across the dining room! It is so fun to see her be so determined in the things she does! You see much determination in her face when she does raspberries... she puts so much work into it! It is adorable! I wake up to her doing them!! Much better than crying I know! May the Lord shape her and mold her to use her determined little spirit in a way that brings him honor! 

  I love being a mom! I love everything about it! I am having to remind myself in the moments that are stressful that I am going to look back one day and say that I miss those moments... those moments she fights and fights to go to sleep... those early morning when I hear her awake, slamming her legs in her crib... So I am soaking it up as MUCH as I can! 

He Is Not Finished With Me Yet!

The last month and a half have been very burdensome for the Hentges household! To start off with, Andy has been having lots of stomach pains over that time. He originally saw a Chiropractor and was told he was allergic to gluten and yellow dye. We cut it out but he was still experiencing the same amount of pain, if not worse, so he went and saw a family doctor and was told he was allergic to gluten, corn, soy, peanuts, and sesame seeds. So we cut those out as well; still no relief. So we decided to go see an allergy specialist and after 57 pricks in the back, we came to find out that there were no food allergies but that he was allergic to cats, birch tree, household dust, grass, and ragweed. The specialist pretty much told us that he has Irritable Bowel Syndrome and something was causing it but don't know what. So we decided to see a fourth doctor! This time it was a Gastrointestinal Doctor. He had an ultrasound to check on his gull bladder, normal. He had an endoscopy to see what may be going on in the digestive tract. He found inflammation in his stomach but the biopsy came back normal. We again are left with little answers... other than he has inflammation in his stomach. He is on anti-inflammatory drugs and that seems to be helping but there is something causing this... So please pray for us as we continue to wait on God to give us relief and answers! We praise God though that there is NO CANCER!


For me, I am trying to be a wife to Andy in this stressful time, as well as a mother to Evelyn! It has been an emotional roller coaster and a very trying thing on our marriage! We have both confided in each other that this has got to be the most difficult, stressful thing we have gone through in the almost 3 years we have known each other! I do not know how people do it without a hope in Christ! How do marriages EVER work/succeed without God's sustaining Grace! I need him... EVERY HOUR! Every hour of my life I need Christ... for wisdom, for peace, for sustaining through life, for forgiveness and freedom from my flesh! Oh what a battle my flesh has been under in fighting to keep my eyes on "whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." (Philippians 4:8 ESV) As I have had to remind myself that I was made to complete Andy and serve him to my uttermost ability! That I am responsible to care for Evelyn and teach her about my Lord and to help her to one day fix her eyes on Christ; As I have struggled to be able to seek the Lord and rest in his word! How can I adequately do it! I can't... I need HIM every hour!


The Lord has also been opening my eyes to evil and hopelessness of this world! I am seeing people trapped in sin and flesh! It is very scary when you look around and see what things are coming to! Thank you Lord for giving me victory of that and help to continue to die to myself and live for you! Beauty, money, possessions, tolerance of sin (homosexuality, sexual immorality, abortion, drunkenness), and women empowerment. The list could go on! I find myself asking myself how to a raise a child in a world where things are changing daily! Where the current tide is getting stronger and stronger! May the Lord give us strength as parents to be able to guide and lead our children through that tide towards Christ! 


I do not mean to be a downer or to drag people's spirits down... it is just that I am realizing the tasks I have at hand here! I am realizing that I can't do it! That I need Christ... that I need to hunger and thirst for his word, for righteousness! I need to grow a deeper passion for him!


I share this song with you and I pray it encourages you and spurs you on as it has me! May the Lord meet you today where you are at and carry you to and through whatever he has before you!


Lord, I Need You by Chris Tomlin

Lord I come, I confess
Bowing here I find my rest
Without You I fall apart
You're the one that guides my heart

Chorus:
Lord, I need You, oh I need You
Every hour I need You
My one defense, my righteousness
Oh God, how I need You

Verse 2:
Where sin runs deep, Your grace is more
Where grace is found is where You are
And where You are Lord I am free
Holiness is Christ in me
Yes where You are Lord I am free
Holiness is Christ in me

Bridge:
So teach my song to rise to You
When temptation comes my way
And when I cannot stand I'll fall on You
Jesus You're my hope and stay
And when I cannot stand I'll fall on You
Jesus You're my hope and stay

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!

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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!