Total admiration

Try to guess what she is looking at ... more in depth post to come soon.

6 months

Yesterday Kirby turned 6 months young! We had a day full of doctor's appointments for the celebration. We had to get her sonogram at 10:30, meet with the orthopedic at 12:50, and then head to Calallen at 3:30 for her 6 month checkup. The brace gets to come off and stay off!!!As you can see, she is thoroughly thrilled! She had to get 4 shots while at her pediatric visit. I forgot that the last time she had these she had a rough night ... she had a rough night again last night. But she made it through and woke up smiling! :)
At 6 months Kirby:
Weighs 15 lbs., 5 oz.
Is 25" long
Eats avocados, bananas, sweet potatoes, peas, pears, and rice cereal (not her favorite).
Still breastfeeds (very hard to do with school, but I am trying hard!)
Not going to mention anything about sleeping, because when I do it seems to change! But, she sleeps about 14 hours in a 24 hour period.
We can hear "muuuma" and sometimes "duuudda", which the doctor said was very much her saying momma and dadda.
Is happy, happy, happy!
Is starting to be able to sit by herself for about 3 seconds before dumping over to one side.
Loves peek-a-boo.
Loves her tongue and her ears.
Learning "more" and "all done" in sign language.
Likes her red cup in the bath tub more than any other bath toy.
Scoots around and around wherever she is laying, but not crawling yet.
As soon as you set her down, is over on her tummy with her head way up in the air like a turtle.
Loves baseball games! Last Sunday I had a Flawless Faces Mary Kay skin care class at our house. It was so much fun getting to play with the new foundation shades and I really appreciate my friends that were so willing to help me with my next level of training. I am excited to see where the Lord leads this business opportunity. I just need to make sure everyday, I am turning it over to Him and using the gifts that He has given me to the fullest.
Lord, give me strength for the next few months .... 60 more days ...
"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10

Patience

"For if you already have something, you don't need to hope for it. But if we look forward to something we don't have yet, we must wait patiently and confidently." Romans 8:25

The Lord has strongly convicted me about my patience lately. Not my patience with people, but patience for me to wait on Him. The other day one of my students asked me if I ever got in fights with classmates when I was in high school. I told them, "Of course not." They could not believe that I did not even take a swing once. I said, "Well, first of all, in my generation of high school we did not just turn around and punch someone for not liking them. Also, the Lord blessed me with tons of patience, so I have always been able to turn the other cheek and walk away. I can put up with more than most people." Their response, "Well we could have told you that, you put up with us everyday and very rarely get mad." Good to know they at least have learned that this year!
For those of you that keep up with my posts regularly, I apologize for them having a negative tone. I am not depressed, I love life, and praise the Lord for each lesson I learn. I am impatient right now with school, though, and it has poured over into the rest of my life. On Tuesday morning I finally said enough is enough with school winning over my attitude. I set my alarm for 45 minutes earlier than usual and made sure I had quiet time each day this week. What a difference this has made! I still have circumstances (especially yesterday) that really upset me and make me want to leave immediately, but the Lord has blessed me with a lifting of my heavy, impatient heart. I have had different verses pop into my head throughout they day that get me through to the end. The mornings have been such a blessing since I got back to making quiet time a priority instead of rushing through it.

I am excited about Sunday. My Mary Kay director from Dallas is coming down to show a group of us the new foundations. I am excited where the Lord can take this business. All I want to do is be able to make it. I know that because I will be my own boss it will require better time management and I must make myself work. I must make myself get out there. When I do just a little, I get a response, so I know if I were to actually work it well, it would provide just what I need. I am sitting back and patiently listening to the Lord, so I know He will provide what we need in His perfect timing.

Have a very blessed day!

From Daddy's Phone

This morning Kirby was so well rested and happy when she woke up. She usually is, but since she slept 12 hours, even more so! (Ignore the clothes in the background that need to be put away! - As you can see, I needed to spend my time more wisely this morning!)

Give me Your eyes

...so that I can see who I need to make a difference for today. When I first came back it was hard because of how much I intensely missed Kirby. That is still a factor, but now it is just hard when I don't see respect. Just know that I need prayer for clear eyes. God has a reason and a season for everything. I need to live in this season at this moment.Happy Valentine's Day!Trying to talk. Reading her story about Pooh!

Waiting ever so patiently for mommy to get her dinner ready!

There are so many things that she is doing right now that crack me up:
1. Rolls over onto her belly, pushes up, and then face plants. She doesn't cry about this until about the 4th time.
2. No teeth yet, but she acts like she is getting them in. She knaws on everyone's shoulder and they all tell me to feed my child. Ha, like she has missed a meal!
3. Has discovered her tongue and can not keep it in her mouth. She sticks it waaaayy out and then wiggles it around or pushes it up like she is trying to lick her nose. CR and I watched and laughed for about 5 minutes last night while she was in the tub doing this.
4. When we do the sign for "all done", if she doesn't think she wants to be done, she pouts out her lip and wimpers a bit, then really lets it out in one big cry. Then she is over it and ready to move.
5. If I am holding her and talking to someone, she will look at me, then the other person, then back at me really quickly. As if to say, "Mommy is here and so are you at the same time. Weird."
6. Puts the red cup I gave her to play with in the bath on her foot, picks her foot up out of the water and looks amazed, then slams her leg back in.

Yesterday when I was going through (ie looking for something) my desk drawer at school I came across the folder from the San Antonio Fertility Specialist. Tears welled up in my eyes and my students asked if I was ok. I told them, "Yes, just so blessed!" I opened up the folder to see if I had stashed what I was looking for in there by chance (had not) and came across the billing estimate for all of the procedures we were about to undergo just a year ago. At the time, the numbers were so much smaller. We wanted a precious child so badly that we knew the Lord would provide the means and we would take it a step at a time. We did not prepay for anything to get ahead because we wanted to wait and hear the Lord through each step. And did we ever hear Him. Thank you Lord, again and again and again, for providing in Your perfect timing and in Your perfect way.

" Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward." Psalms 127:3

Lies Young Women Believe | Are crushes okay?

Lies Young Women Believe Are crushes okay?

You gotta have faith!

I will have pictures to post tomorrow, but today will just be words. I have so much on my mind that I feel like I want to just vomit it all out on here and maybe I can figure things out. Does that ever happen to you? Once you write things out, you get answers or things make better sense? I know when I write out my prayers everything seems less blurry and mangled.
My heart aches for those that I love that I know are not truly happy. They seem happy on the outside, but they are cringing inside. I will leave names out, but it is almost everyone I know when I think about it. Some because they are lost, some because they think they have what they have always longed for, and some because they want days back that have gone by. I know God will take care of those that lean and trust on Him; I long for the days when I can run into His arms and tell Him how much I appretiate all the times He has come to my rescue. It is daily, so that will be a lot of hugging!
My heart aches also for myself; I want so badly to be home with Kirby Rose right now and not sitting at my desk on my conference period grading papers (or not grading papers!). She had a rough night when we went to Montgomery. She was very excited to see everyone and be the life of the party on Saturday, but since she didn't sleep much at all Friday because of a belly ache, we decided to come back home Saturday night. This was a great choice as she slept very well and then napped very well yesterday. I just want to be home and work on her naps with her. She was in such a great sleeping schedule before New Years, and then with all the doctors appointments and traveling she got thrown way off. She is starting to get back there, but she doesn't nap as well without momma. Not sure what that deal is, because Granny is the one who got her to nap so well before. She is doing very well in general, though. Happy as a lark. Laughs and we found a tickle spot! Eating avocados, pears, sweet potatoes, bananas, and peas. Tomorrow we are going to try nectarines and then 4 days later some carrots! She rolls over all the time, but doesn't quite have the rolling back over to her back yet. Sometimes she wakes up on her belly and screams bloody murder. I am not sure if it hurts her because of her leg or if she just does not like it. The other day we both swear we heard her say "muma" but I think it was just babbling. I started working on "all done" and "more" sign, but that will take some time. They say atleast 6 months before to start working with them, but I say it is never too early! Once she gets that, we are going to try "hungry" and then "thirsty" and "change". We need to know what is going on in her precious little mind!
I know everything is in His hands ... I have the Faith!

A few summers back, we had a calf whose mother had died shortly after giving birth. We bottle fed her and I named her Hope. Hope is now a mother to her own little calf that I call Love. :)

She is in our backyard so this is what we wake up to each morning.