Go see this great giveaway!

I stumbled on a great giveaway a fellow blogger pointed me to. Go on over and check it out!

Another Hard Week

I have been using the Progesterone cream for the last 3 months now. I have made great improvements while using the cream and doing better than I have done in years! Then this last week came a lot of ups and downs. I began to think I was pregnant, but tested neg. Then as the days have gone by I began to have even more pregnancy symptoms. Still neg! The last test I took I just KNEW would be pos, but no. It's wearing on my emotions. It just so hard to sorta get excited (even talk names) and then hope is dashed away. I don't really know what to do now. Still COULD be preg...what to do? It's just been hard! It's not that I would be mad if I knew for sure I wasn't preg., but I just want a for sure. Just plain HARD!

A Lovely Evening Together

Well, I might have not been completely accurate in the title. Let's just call it sarcasm :) Ever since moving into our humble home we have had issues with the toilet's plumbing. Problems:

1. Teeny Tiny Toilet that NO adult can sit on comfortably.
2. The toilet is at least 2" away from the wall.
3. Cast Iron Pipes
4. Improper flange...yes I know all about this stuff now!
5. Nearly no wax ring

...thanks to the horrible contractor the owner hired to flip the home.

So with that said...a year or so after moving in we started discovering these issues when we noticed water under the flooring. We patched the problem and really hoped that would be the end of it. Now 3 years later we still have not put tile down on the hardy backer and we started to notice the toilet ran non-stop. Then we discovered the dreaded black mold on top of all our previous work. Sat. Ryan and I went out and found a toilet and Sun. I managed to talk Ryan into installing the new toilet. We quickly got into more than we EVER expected. The bolts were rusted out and once we finally got them loose, I realized we got the wrong toilet. I then found out we had only an hour to get to Home Depot two towns away. Once we got home we ate and got the boys to bed and began scraping up two layers of sub floor. NASTY, NASTY, NASTY!!! EWWWWWWWWWW!!! So gross! We worked until 1am on just the floor. We still do not have a toilet installed and oh yeah...it's a one bath house! Please don't ask about specifics on that!!! I have never been so excited to get a new toilet! Praise God for indoor plumbing!!!

At least we got time together, though we both were sick to our stomachs the whole time :(

Growing, Growing....

This would be Joseph's growth chart. At five years old he measures for a 7-8 year old boy. Yep, of course I shouldn't be surprised, cause he has been at 75%-100+% ever since he was 3 mos. old. It is just amazing to see it on paper and our Dr. is in awe of it every time! With cousins of mine that measure 6'4" and above it is obviously hereditary. I have actually had people tell me he was tall from all that formula I had to supplement with, just to keep up. Yep people are cruel! If that be the case then I beg the question, why is Thomas on the average size? They both had formula!

Anywho...just thought I'd share. Before long he will have us eaten out of the house and be towering over me. Please don't let it go so fast!

Welcome Fall...

since you will be around for a few months, I thought I would make you feel welcome with a new look. Also did you notice our new title? Yep, thought I would change it up a bit. The old title never grew on me. This one seems to fit much better!

Recently I discovered a new favorite bible verse:

"He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life." Titus 3:5-7

God's word is so inspiring and uplifting.

Happy Birthday To My Favorite Blonde-Headed Boy!

I can't believe it...I am officially the mother of a five-year-old boy. At 1:28pm on Oct. 5, 2004 we became the proud and blessed parents of Joseph Allen. He has been about as easy as his delivery was. I only labored with him for about 4 1/2 hours.

Joseph we are so blessed to have the pleasure of raising such a fine young boy. You are very laid back and easy going. You developed a sweet friendship with your favorite stuffed animal, "bear-bear". In fact, I bought a 2nd just in case "bear-bear #1" didn't hold up. You make friends easily, but are VERY cautious in everything you do (especially around water more than 1ft deep). You like to giggle a lot which then turns to hiccups. Your best bud is your brother Thomas, though you are sometimes worst enemies. You don't get upset too easily, but when you do you let everyone know. You have a gentle spirit and love animals and babies. You used to not let Mommy give you kisses, but you finally realized that kisses are okay from Mommy :). You are my favorite shopping buddy and enjoy going out just about anywhere! We often get some of the best questions from you about God and you are quickly learning the teachings. We just started school this year (a year early). When you try hard you do very well, but sometimes you get easily discouraged. Your favorite school is Sunday School and you are making many friends there. I enjoy hearing your prayers and am often surprised by what is on your heart.

Happy 5th Birthday Joseph Allen! What a blessing these 5 years have been!!!

An unusual post...well at least for me. You see I typically do not post about faith matters because, well I just don't. Ryan and I have dove into the study of covenant theology for the past two years. It all started because Ryan's Brother's family are Presbyterians and as we got together little things would come up as we spoke about the Lord. We didn't really understand how to defend ourselves as Baptists if we didn't understand Presbyterians. So we started studying to find out why they believed what they believed and we were almost certain that we would find a great defense for ourselves as Baptists. We thought there would be scripture that would give us one of those "ah-ha" moments. Well actually the opposite happened. We were unable to defend ourselves with the scriptures (as Baptists) and began to see the bible in a different way. Baptist typically separate the bible out, Old and New. Well we began to see the relationship between the two books and how the new was just a continuation of the old. Many things changed, but NOTHING was taken away without something replacing it. We eventually decided to start our search for a reformed Presbyterian Church which brought us to Covenant Presbyterian Church of Oak Ridge. We have gleaned so much from the pastor, people and Sunday schools.

Right now the boys are officially in separate aged classes. Each week they tell us lessons they learned, songs they sung and projects they made. They ALWAYS come home with a project of some sort.

Ryan and I are taking the new members class and have enjoyed learning about the national church, the individual church and their doctrine and theology. This past week we really dove into covenant theology (well I did...Ryan had to do mandatory overtime :( ). It was just such a great lesson and I learned and took LOTS of notes that I shared with Ryan.

An overview of what we have learned of covenant theology is:

1. We believe the church is made up of the believers and their household (including all children in the home). (Gen. 17:9, Jer 3:39, IS 55:1-5, Acts 2:38-39)

2. We believe that the covenant expanded into one another.
(Adamic Covenant, Noahic Covenant, Mosaic Covenant, Abrahamic Covenant & Christ Covenant--Most people admit they see how the first 4 expanded into one another, but draw a line after Abraham, separating that covenant from the last.)

3. We believe the household should be baptised one time only. God keeps his promise whether you make a promise to him before you become a believer or not. Infants are to be baptised because they are part of the household, just as infant boys were circumcised in the Abrahamic Covenant. The sign changed but the meaning did not, just as Christ death replaced animal sacrifice, baptism replaced circumcision.

4. We do not believe that baptism saves a person, but that it is a sign of what God promised to his people...not just to the Israelites.

5. We believe that in the OT circumcision signified membership in the church and in the NT Baptism signies church membership. Consider Ishmael and Esau. (Acts 2:39, 16:14-15)

6. We believe that "sign" means:

Engagement to Christ (Rom 6:1-5)
Symbolical of washing away sins (Acts 2:38-39, 22:16, Titus 3:5)
Regeneration by the Holy Spirit(Titus 3:5)
Relationship to the Church (Matt 28:19-20)


In side notes, the word covenant is used 300+ times in the bible. By baptising our children we signify that we believe God holds to His covenants/promises to His people that one day our children may be followers of Him. If we don't believe in covenant, then we don't believe our children are God's people. God classifies His people two ways, 1) the wicked that He hates and 2) His people He loves. Teaching our children songs such as "Jesus Loves Me" and scripture like the Lord's prayer would be a lie if we didn't believe covenant theology. Jesus does not love the lost or presumed lost and the lost do not consider God their Father in Heaven.

These are just a few of our points and things we have learned. It is very expansive and has taken us nearly 2 years to get where we are and we still have a long was of learning more about this topic. Just wanted to share with those who DO read this (which I am sure are very few) what we believe and why we believe it.

My Health Update:

Well it has been awhile since my last post about my diagnosis of Adenomyosis and I thought I would give update. I started out doing a detox to clean out excesive estrogen so that the progesterone would absorb better. I started the natural progesterone cream this past week and right away it started to work. I had a few things that concerned me and I emailed the company and was surprised to hear from the owner right away and told to call him. We discussed my issues today and he tells me that all my symptoms are a sign that I am an extreme case of estrogen dominance. From his knowledge and belief he thinks he gave me special instructions to do over the next 2 months (and even told me to call him back in a few weeks). He thinks that with this treatment I will be able to more easily lose weight and get my cycles more regulated. Then maybe we will be able to conceive :) A friend of mine who also struggles with infertility explained it well this week. Everytime a friend finds our they're expecting or has a baby it is so exciting, yet it make us ponder our own infertility and reminds us of our discontentment. So that is the latest and hopefully I spared you any gruesome details ;)

"The Government Can"

Make sure to pause my playlist on the bottom right before watching this video.

GA Aquarium Date

While we were recently down in GA, Ryan arranged for his sister to watch the boys while he took me out to the GA Aquarium and lunch afterwards. We really had a great time (even though we both talked about how much we missed the boys being there). I was really impressed with the aquarium and how hands on they were. I was a little dissappointed that you had to pay for th Titanic exhibit and a few others, but there was still plenty to see. We then we took a walk through the Olympic Park and over to the CNN building (no we are not CNN fans!), but thought it would still be neat to see if we could watch the news live (which we couldn't). I then managed to literally "blow out my flip-flop" on the brick walkway of the park. For lunch I chose an old fav. of ours called "Wok & Chopstix". As you guessed it is a chinese resturant. It is always so quant and quiet along with clean and fresh food. We enjoyed EVERY bite! Here are our pics:


I found NEMO!

Coral Reef Aquarium...I like how you can see Ryan's reflection :)

Da...Dum, Da..Dum, Da Dum, Da Dum.....SHARK!

Grouper

Jellyfish

One of the HUGE Whale Sharks

Beluga Whale

My favorite: Sea Otters! They are like toddlers. They played with toys and instead of using the "tools" they were supplied, to crack open their food, they use the window :)

I promise, this is a Sea Dragon, not Sea Weed

The Anemone, Sea Urchin & Starfish touch pool



River Otters

Poisonous Frogs

Sting Ray & Shark touch pool

Drum Roll Please....*dddddddd*.....

UPDATE:

Ryan got the call at the end of last week to ask him to come back to JTEKT. He went in for drug testing Monday and has a training day this Thursday (30th). They called him yesterday to see if he wanted to start early, but he is still working out his notice with Broadview. We are so excited and thankful.

At the end of last week I also started noticing an itchy rash showing up on my arms, face and around my eye. Friday I went to the Dr. as my eye was swelling and found out it was poison ivy that I came in contact with Monday while dong some yard work. THey gave me a steroid shot and some meds and the next morning my eye had swelled completely shut! The Dr. advised me to go to the ER where they gave me another steroid shot and a stronger oral steroid to take for twice as long. My eye is much better (nearly 100%), but my arms are killing me with constant itching!!! Thankfully I am on the mend though! We found out through this, how much we are thankful to go back onto JTEKT's insurance as the ER trip would have been $50 cheaper on their insurance.

Well although I would love to be announcing a new addition to our family, at the moment we are not expecting. Our great news? Ryan received a call this AM from JTEKT (his old, much better paying and better insured job) and they have picked up business again. They have called back the groups laidoff right after him (who have higher seniority) and Ryan's group would be next, PLUS, Ryan is at the top of the group, so he will definitely be the next called back and I quote, "before the end of the year."! When Ryan told me I questioned if he was just pulling my leg again as we tend to play little jokes on one another, but he assured me it was not a joke and then I broke into tears. Seriously, tears! So pretty much any day now we could get that call. Ryan hasn't really felt in place a Broadview (formerly BRINKS) and I asked him if he will be sad to leave and he excitedly said, "NO!" Though I think his body will remind him that he has been sitting at a desk for several months when he does return to JTEKT. :) To give everyone an idea of the difference this will make in our pockets, his checks from BRINKS are 1/2 of what they were from JTEKT. We have been thankful to have the job at Broadview as it has sustained us, but we have struggled to make ends meet. We are praising God for all he has done and is doing and the many things we have learned about ourselves in the last few months and years.

He Peed!

This summer has been all about growing up for Thomas! He gave up the paci a few weeks ago. Actually he had a bad habit of hiding them from us and then eventually forgot where he hid them. I know this picture is totally inappropriate, but I have learned to make a big deal over their achievements as it makes them proud of it and they want to do it more. Thomas took awhile just to get him to pee on the potty. He would hold it for nearly the whole day and wait till I put a diaper on him to go. Finally he gave it a good try. He was pretty excited for what he had done, but even more so when he saw how excited I got for him.

The 4th Parade

Finally we were up early enough to make it to a parade before it started! In parades past we don't realize there is a parade until we hear the sirens of the police cars and firetruck as they run down the street that runs behind our house. We made it out there this year, bed heads and all and got lots of yummy candy!


Yay, Mom got us dressed in like 2 mins and threw us in this wagon so we can go to the parade! Like our bed-heads?


Killing time and up to something?


Here Mommy, for you!


Me too!


Such a sweet bouquet


Joseph discovered this year that if you wave they see you and in turn they throw you candy.


Thomas will pick up on that later :)


My favorite part is always the dozens of horses that trot on through. And I particularly think this covered wagon is rather neat!









The fruits of Joseph's labor and Thomas' taking advantage of Joseph's labor ;)

HUGE GIVEAWAYS AT MOM CENTRAL!

Check out Mom Central for lots of great giveaways. You just register for their site and leave a comment for each giveaway. Plus you can do extras for more entries! Here's a list of the giveaways:

WEEK 4:

Win a Play-Doh Spaghetti Factory (Open to US) Enter by August 7

Win Wisk High Efficiency Detergent (Open to US and Canada) Enter by August 7

Win a Laugh and Learn DVD Set (Open to US) Enter by August 7

Win a PBS Family DVD Set (Open to US and Canada) Enter by August 7

Win a Snack Caddy (Open to US and Canada) Enter by August 7



WEEK 3:

Win an At-home Tetherball System from Lifetime Products (Open to US) Enter by July 31

Win a $100 Gift Certificate to Alice.com (Open to US and Canada) Enter by July 31

Win a Polly Pocket Playset (Open to US and Canada) Enter by July 31

Win a Wateroos Drink Pack for Kids (Open to US) Enter by July 31

Win a Birthday Party Bash for Wii game (Open to US) Enter by July 28

WEEK 2:

Win a Swatch Watch from Jomaship (open to US and Canada) Enter by July 24

Win a Digital Frame from Kodak (Open to US) Enter by July 24

Win Crayola Play Sand (Open to US) Enter by July 24

Win a Clipo Hippo from Playskool (Open to US) Enter by July 24

WEEK 1:

Win a pair of Crocs kids' sneakers (open to US) Enter by July 10

Win a Hoover Vaccum (open to US) Enter by July 17


Win a 20th Anniverary Super Soaker (open to US and Canada) Enter by July 17


Win a free game from GameHouse.com (open to US and Canada) Enter by July 17


Win a box of Crystal Light (open to US and Canada) Enter by July 17

Win a pair of new Simple Shoes for toddlers (open to US) Enter by July 17


Plus each week they will add more items!

More News and Prayers Needed

I just found out yesterday that my mom (Beth) is scheduled for her tummy tuck on the 13th of July. Thankfully the Lord worked it out that it is on Ryan's day off so I can be there to help. It is a four hour surgery that is very invasive and she will then go home an hour later. My sister and I will be taking care of her at her home. Pray for a safe surgery and easy-speedy recovery for her. Pray for the family as we care for her. Thanks in advance for all your prayers.

Yep it's me...posting on my blog between all the busy-ness. What have we been up to? Well My mom had a hard first night in the hospital, but made rapid improvement the next day, to the point that she got to go home that day ( a day early! ). She has done well and has been working hard to get her iron levels back up to normal. I think she is getting bored though. She has the will and energy to do things, but pays for it the next day.

I have also spent time installing curtains all around the house. Finally after 4 years! I have also gotten all our cats/kittens (5) spayed and neutered so we are officially over that fun.

Also, I do ask for prayers for my sister as the Dr.'s have found pre-cancerous cells on her cervix. She will soon have a procedure done that will scrape off layers until they get it all. Pray that it will work and they can, in fact, get it all. Pray for strength for her in this time, that she can find hope in Christ through this trial.

Ryan and I have started going through a little book called The Visionary Marriage. We have read completely through it once and (as the book instructs) are going to go back through the five points in detail. Let me go ahead and say, it was an eye opener! I recommend this book to all married and soon-to-be married couples. It's just a great book to go over the details that get missed after awhile. And if you want it, I know the author! In fact, he married us!!!

As far as my adenomyosis goes, I have been taking a xenoestrogen detox and have noticed some difference on it. The real test will be when I start using the Progesterone. In a few more weeks I can do that.

And because no post is exciting without pictures, I am including the shots I got of the boys at the splash pad and at home depot.

Coveted Prayers

Another UPDATE:
Well I am now nestled into the recliner in my mom's hospital room. Tonight is my night to stay with her and help care for her through the night. It is so wonderful to be able to serve my mother for a change. She has been extremely groggy from the morphine and anesthesia. She has also acquired some significant nausea. Thankfully the new round of nurses is much better than the first and very helpful in getting us what we need, which is a blessing! It will be a restless night I am sure, but somehow I enjoy this time with her in her time of need. I don't even mind the lack of sleep. Thank you all for your prayers and comfort.

UPDATE:
Mom is in surgery as I type. She got the news before surgery that they will be unable to do the elective plastic surgery because her blood counts were so low from all the problems she has had the past couple of weeks and months. She was very disappointed, but handled it with grace. It should take about an hour and then she will recover in the hospital for 2 days. I am staying with her tonight and Tiffany tomorrow. Please pray that her blood counts would improve and her pain would be minimal as it is still major surgery.

Please be praying for my mom. She is going in for a planned hysterectomy tomorrow that is pretty invasive due to her fibroids and cysts. In addition she is having plastic surgery to remove lots of unwanted skin from losing a lot of weight. All that makes it a 5 hour surgery!!! My sister, Dad and I will be up there (and not quite sure if my brother will be up there too). She is more than ready as her problems have worsened as the weeks have drawn closer. I think the thing we are all most nervous about is the recovery. It is one of the most painful recoveries from what we hear. Please pray for the Dr.s' that the Lord would grant them wisdom and steady hands. That the nurses would be gentle and kind as they tend to her needs. That the family can be of help to her and care for her as she has faithfully cared for us over the years. Thank you in advance for your prayers! They are coveted.

Getting the Best To Say the Least!

Ok, I have to admit, I really like the style and quality of the Pottery Barn Brand. There are not many of their items I don't like and I have yet to find any of their items with poor quality. That being said, we just can't afford it. Here are my tips on scouting out good deals and these are also ways you may be able to save on other great brands!

1. I skim through ebay nearly every day for deals and cheap used or new items, usually for specific items. Here's the hint. Change up your search words, ie: Pottery Barn Valance is sometimes misspelled by the sellers as Pottery Barn Valence! These actually end up being easy items to snag, because most people won't misspell the word in their search. Also someone may use different title words for the same thing, ie: Pillow Cover or Pillow Sham.

2. This is BIG! I just discovered this huge way to save, today! I had been searching for just the right chair cushions for our dining room chairs and wouldn't you know it the ones I like are made by Pottery Barn! Soooo, I saw that they were on clearance on their site for $15 each which is probably not bad for them, but add on tax and shipping and wowzer! That's $70+ for four cushions. So I gave their company a call to check on the shipping rates and see about giving me a cheaper rate and wouldn't you know it the customer service rep said that today they were giving those same cushions to their customers who call in, for 1/2 of the clearance price, PLUS FREE SHIPPING!!! Can you believe it!? Talk about cheap, I couldn't find these used for that cheap! The Rep. told me that they have deals you wouldn't believe for call-in customers.

So before ordering online, give the company a ring and see if they will work with you on the price. No matter who it is :)

HOPE!

Well I finally had my annual checkup, which I have been waiting for since the beginning of the year to talk with my Dr. about my ongoings and all the recent developments. I found out that everything looks...well...normal! However, my Dr. diagnosed me with Adenomyosis (still having trouble spelling that out). It's basically endometreosis of the uterus. Cure? He told me a hysterectomy. Should it cause my infertility? He says no.

So I decided to research the condition myself and found this out:

1. It does cause infertility
2. There is a form of natural treatment

This is wonderful news. In reading the research on it, it all started to make sense. All these symptoms I have had that we thought weren't related, in fact are! Symptoms of adenomyosis are:

1. Infertility
2. High estrogen
2. Low Progesterone which inhibits ovulation
3. thyroid symptoms like: hair loss, weight gain, difficulty loosing weight, lack of energy (even though the thyroid tests normal!)
4. PAINFUL Cramps all the time
5. Pelvic Discomfort
6. Breast Tenderness
7. LONG menses
8. irregular menses

Many of these symptoms kept making me think I was pregnant every month.

Basically what happens is I develop high amounts of estrogen from xenoestrogens ("foreign" estrogen) in my environment. This causes the progesterone to go down and inhibits the body from ovulating. So no matter how hard we try...no baby :( This also messes with the other hormones and chemicals in the body. Because of all these things my endometrium tissue cells have embedded into the muscle of the uterus and causes severe pain during menses and even throughout the month. I hoping to be able to detox my body of all the excess estrogen and then start using a NATURAL progesterone to get everything where it should be. It is hard to believe that I found all this out in a matter of minutes and my Dr. told me the only treatment was a hysterectomy. Stay tuned to see how it all goes :)

Want a kitty?

Well we are more than ready to find a home for one or two of the kittens we have left. They are both female and we can get them "fixed" and vaccinated for $11 each if you would like. We did manage to find a home for two boy kittens with some dear friends, but unfortunately a mean ole tomcat got a hold of them :( Our friends felt so bad. We would like to find homes that the kittens would be allowed indoors at least overnight, especially since they are still so young and vulnerable.

We have put an official end to the problem of over population (at least at our house)as we "fixed" our two adult cats today. It's so funny to see them so calm and quiet. And boy were they hungry when they came home!

Here are their photo opps:



Kitty #1 has the neatest coloring. Grey back, black face, white paws and whiskers :)
She is very feisty and playful and puts up well with kids.


Kitty#2 is solid grey with medium to long hair. She is very sweet and calm. She will play and get into things, but prefers to be cuddled. She does put up with the boys handling her, but I can tell she doesn't prefer them messing with her.