Growing our Family

We are pregnant! Well, I am :) I am so excited that the Lord has blessed our family with another baby. We found out about a month ago, and waited to surprise the family for Christmas, and also to make sure everything was going well. It was a success. The family was blown away and the Lord has been so faithful. This new little baby is growing strong. I am 8 1/2 weeks, and due 8.6.11 I have been just dying to share with all my friends and family. But being pregnant with the second is so different. Between being horribly sick and chasing Hannah around I barely have a moment to remember. Well, I am so excited for the new chapter that the Lord has opened for us, and for Hannah too. She will be a Big Sister.

Tis the season

Remembering the real meaning of Christmas..... this is the verse the Lord has been putting on my heart.

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14

He is calling me to slow down, take time to be thankful, and enjoy the blessings that He has already given me. Even if He didn't give or do anything else for me, it has already been enough.

Suprise!

Last week Jacob turned 30. I wanted to do something really special for him, but I did not plan well. I ended up throwing together a surprise dessert. I am so thankful for all the friends and family that was able to share with us.

The cake was pretty sad too, but for sugar free, it tasted pretty good.

Hannah got to spend some time with her buddy Riley. They are so cute together. I am so thankful to have Jenni, Joey and Riley close now. It is really great to share with another mommy the ups and downs of motherhood.

All in all this last two weeks have been super busy. Tis the season right..... I really don't want the rest of this Christmas season to fly right by me without enjoying it. I am really going to try to make the time to S L O W down and really enjoy these moments that I have with Jacob and Hannah. My family means so much to me, I really am blessed. The other day I sent Jacob a text while he was at work, saying sorry for being a bad wife lately, I have been so busy some days we go almost all day without spending any time together. And his response was so God ordained that it brought me to tears. He said, "every morning I look at you and Hannah while you are sleeping, and I thank God. Because he truly does give good and perfect gifts" That meant so much to me, and to really take the focus off of giving the best Christmas gift, because God has already given us good and perfect gifts, sometimes we just someone to point them out to us.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1:17

Giving Thanks

I have been such a slacker on Blogging and Facebook these last couple of weeks. But I have been out and about with my lil Hannah more. I have really been cherishing my time with her. We had a couple of park dates, which are great, one to get out of the house, two to talk with other mommies, and three for Hannah to socialize with other kids and build friendships of her own. It has been so much fun watching her interact with different kids, she really responds differently to each one.

Hannah and Drew

I love this little face!

Hannah and Sawyer

We went on a little date of our own to the RSM lake. Hannah just ran around on the grassy area and watched the ducks. I really am so thankful to God for blessing us with Hannah. She really makes my heart melt, and I cannot thank him enough for filling the missing piece in her that was Hannah shaped.

This was random from last Sunday in the truck. She was so happy, I couldn't help but take her picture.

I do wonder what she thinks when she plays. Like the other day, she pushed a toy around in her baby stroller, took it to her "car" (walker) and then pushed around the car, all while babbling in Hannah. I love it. And I am so very Thankful for God's timing in giving us Hannah. I am so very thankful that I get to work from home and be with her all day. I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Gobble Gobble........

This year I hosted Thanksgiving. I should have remembered how much work it is and let someone else offer. But it did turn out really great. I am so very Thankful for the great time I did have with the family. The kids had a great time, we ate entirely too much food and I worried about if the house was clean enough... which nobody even seemed to notice. I am very Thankful for the family that I have. I was not able to be with my own family, but God gave me a great second family. Jacobs family really is a blessing to be around. I love that even when the kitchen flooded and the turkey was "undercooked, but really just cooked" there was no freak outs. It is so different from my family. There really is no stress, but me. I really don't want to be a stress bucket anymore either. And the one BIG thing that God was sharing with me this Thanksgiving was a small verse that is before one of my favorite Thanksgiving verses that I guess I have overlooked so many times before:

1 Thessalonians 5:14-17

And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be PATIENT with EVERYONE. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else. Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

I especially know that God has given this to me because I think he was using my husband to strengthen me in this. Honey, I love you! And I love that our only family pic this year on Thanksgiving, You are eating Hannah's hair, she is crying and I never did my hair. I love my crazy life, it is truly a blend of challenge and fun.

All in all, I am going to try to spend more time counting my blessings, and being Thankful in everything, working on my patients. I love my God, my family.....everything else is just a bonus. I am so thankful that I don't need money to be happy. You cannot buy this moment of a tired little girl falling asleep like this in her bed today, kissing her toes.

Happy Birthday Hannah

And two became three.

One year ago, I started one of the best adventures of my life. I became a mother. After years of waiting for God's timing, And months of growing, and hours of labor and pushing. November 6, 2009 Hannah Grace Masciave was born. I can truly appreciate how wonderfully we are made. Even after being born, Hannah was not alive. She was not breathing when she was born. God truly breathed life into her, and she became alive. And has not stopped since. I am so thankful for her everyday, and cannot imagine life without her. She made me a Mom, and a better person. This seriously has been the fastest year of my life. It was also the best.... so far. I cannot wait to see how you grow in the next year. I love you so much.

I love you when you are sleeping, holding your blankie so tightly. I love you when you are taking all of the towels out of the closet because you are "helping" mommy. I love you when you are "reading" your books, and you talk in "hannah". I love you when you drop a toy and you Ut (Ut Oh). I love you when you push all the toys and laundry baskets to one side of the room. I love you when you walk as fast as you can to meet me on the other side of the room for a kiss. I love you when you need to comfort you. I love you every minute of the day, and even before I knew you. I thank God for entrusting me as your mommy and giving you to me.

Hannah had a great time at her party. She loved opening presents more than I thought she would. She had lots of help from Violet.
Papa Tim got her, her first bike. She loved it and was hamming it up for pictures. She has been pushing the bike around our house. I love it! It reminds me of my bike. I can't wait for her to ride it. She will be the Sky Princess.
Hannah wasn't a huge fan of my cake. But that is ok, less sugar and no tummy ache is ok in my book. I did enjoy making it for her, even with the first cake flipping over in the oven and burning my arm.....she is so worth it.
I am so thankful that the family was able to come out for the Birthday. It really means a lot to me that they would come so far to celebrate Hannah with us.

more pictures of the peoples we love.

she just loves books so much.

We decided to go to breakfast to celebrate as a family before the party. It was so perfect to have that hour of family time before the chaos began of setting up a party. Hannah really seemed to enjoy it too. She loves eating pancakes!

B.F.F.

Hannah and Karli will always be BFF. Even a state and six hours cannot separate them. I love that when they saw each other after two weeks apart, they started playing and smiling. They truly love one another. I am so thankful that at such an early age in this crazy world, they will have each other. To share the happy times and the tears. To encourage and sharpen.

I have often thought about the miscarriages that I have had. What was I suppose to learn, or why did I have them..... I can now appreciate that it might not have been just for me. But if I would have had Hannah 3 years ago, she would not such a great friend Karli, and I her mom Lauren. What a great season, appointed by God.

Happy First Birthday!

Psalm 23

This Priority challenge that I gave myself has been a little more difficult that I had thought. I have been doing well with less TV, but with the extra time on my hands it has been hard to get motivated. The time that I am investing with the Lord has definitely been great. I have been soaking up Psalm 23. I am taking it line by line, everyday. And also reading Traveling Light by Max Lucado. I was drawn back to Psalm 23 when I was looking from guidance from the Lord on leading our Life Group. When we did our last leaders meeting, Dan and Peggy had encouraged us with this. So I thought it would be appropriate to start there, so I did. Later that week, I had gone to the Library in search of a new book to read. I don't think I have read anything other than Mommy material since I have had Hannah. This book had jumped out at me, and what is it on.... Psalm 23. I think God is trying to teach me something.

We had a great week all in all. We went out and Voted as a family. So special. Hannah even got a sticker!

Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures,

he leads me beside quiet waters,

he restores my soul.

He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name sake.

Even though I walk in the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil,

for you are with me;

your rod and your staff,

they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me,

in the presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil;

my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and love will follow me

all the days of my life,

and I will dwell in the house of the Lord

forever.

Priority Challenge

I am not too sure what we did last week. It was just another one of those weeks where work, Hannah and getting the house picked up took over. We did have a family night out to the park. That was a blast for Jacob to see Hannah playing at the jungle gym. She loved to crawl through the tunnels, and go down the slide. She finally likes to go on the swings now too. I love watching her explore. She loves to test out everything, she is quite adventurous.

Halloween in tomorrow, and I feel like such a bum. I only watched the last ten mins of Peanuts last night, the pumpkins are not carved, and I still am not sure what to be. I hadn't thought about dressing up, but I think it would be fun to be something. We are going to be serving the community giving out full size candy bars, and hot cocoa. We have done it every year since we moved down here. I really enjoy the fellowship, and it is nice to be out but not have any agenda. Oh well, I guess it will all work out, and if not..... its only Halloween.

I discovered how much I love vinegar today. I bought the jumbo tub of it. I don't really care for the smell, but it is amazing at cleaning. Our dish washer has been leaving a nasty film on all our dishes. I have used vinegar to clean the dishwasher before so I thought I would try it out on some of the dishes too. And let me tell you.... AMAZING. It was like magic, it took all the film off and made my glass sparkle like now. I am convinced that I will not be buying any more cleaners, aside from bleach and vinegar. I am already not a fan of chemicals, especially around Hannah. You never know how much your body absorbs when taking a shower, or breathing it in. So yay for Vinegar.

Today I also got to be a "Single Mom". And as much fun as I have with Hannah, she is so exhausting. We went to Target, a Birthday Party, went to work and then to church all today. I love her so much and really do cherish all the time that I have with her, but I do love when Jacob gets home from work, or church and spends time with her. He plays with her so well and is awesome at bath time. It is so nice for me to take those little breaks too. Being a mom can be very exhausting, and I could easily get burnt out. I sometimes feel so bad about the amount of time that I am with her, but not playing with her. She is very independent and plays very well by herself. And I do have to work, try to keep up on the house, maintain friendships too, and I do sometimes feel that I do have quality time with her. I am very thankful that I do get to at least work from home, and that I am not putting her in a daycare.

All of that being said, I think that I am going to challenge my self to Prioritize and Organize what is really important in my life. I know that I can check up on facebook about 100 times a day, but I can't stop and read a quick book to Hannah. (we just got a library card, and LOVE it) So I think that this next week, I will make the things that I really want invested in my life a Priority, and everything else can just flow around, or be cut out. Here is what I am thinking.....

1. Time in the word.- spending time with the Lord daily- in prayer, the word, and just inviting his presence

2. Jacob- poor guy- by the time he gets home from work and we eat and put Hannah off to bed, we are in robot mode :( so I guess to break free from the daily routines

3. Hannah- to spend quality time together- just taking a little bit of time out of the routine and read a book, go for a walk, do something together everyday

4. Work- I have to work- but I can get up early- or stay up late- when everyone is sleeping and get the majority of my work done

5. Friends- Sorry friends, but you are #5- getting out with other mommies is very important

Things I need less of:

Facebook- I check it ALL day long- maybe I need to move the app from my phone

TV- I don't watch a lot, but when I get lazy, it sucks me in

Housework- it doesn't have to be perfect

I guess what it all comes down to is spending my time with the ones that I love and not to stress about the work, and what everyone else is doing too.

Wish me Luck!