Guess who has taken a big ol' break from her blog?  Well, if you've checked here in the past week, I think you already know that it was me.  Between fighting the stomach flu and fighting off morning sickness, between baseball and soccer, between overnight guests and road trips life has been so BUSY!  By no means does that mean I'm complaining, though.  I really happen to like the busy!

Okay, pregnancy update.  I'm currently 10 weeks along and experiencing all-day nausea.  I'm not complaining about it too much, though, as it remains just nausea.  In other words, I'm not spending a majority of my day (or any of my day, for that matter) hovered over the toilet.  I recently went in for my 9 week appointment, which was basically just registering me into the computer system as a pregnant woman (not that I wasn't already in there, but I guarantee you that after I answered the bajillion questions they asked, I am most definitely in their system now!).  I have my first full pregnancy exam with Dr. T. next week and I will admit that I'm excited for it!  While only a month has passed since my first ultrasound I'm more than ready for the second!  Some days I still can't believe this precious miracle that God has blessed us with .. it just seems so surreal.  I will never cease to thank Him for this blessing!

Sports season is well underway in our home and I am even more involved this year, as I volunteered to be the manager for Ellis' soccer team.  I have been busy with learning the technicalities of the position, but I have a feeling that it's something I'm going to thoroughly enjoy!

I recently had the opportunity to join my mom and my two aunts for a girls' weekend in Fargo, ND and what a weekend it was!  We stayed in a hotel, spent many hours going through the Tour of Homes, ate out a lot, shopped and enjoyed each other's company.  One thing I did learn, however, is that my body is unable to go at such high speeds all day in this stage of pregnancy.  By the end of the day I was phenomenally exhausted!  I was thankful for the weekend away, though, and for my amazing husband who kept things flowing smoothly back home.  I don't know what I would do without that man ... he is just so wonderful!

So ... that's the gist of what's been going on here.  Hopefully my blogging will come more frequently (though I partially blame it on the fact that the computer has officially been moved into our new office and it feels like less of the command central than it did when it was in the kitchen, so I'm less motivated to go and use it!  Give it time .. give it time.)

Missing my blogging buddies!

As many of you may know (if you've followed my blog within the past year) my sister and her family are adopting a beautiful little girl from China.  Her name is Khloe and she is a bright and beautiful toddler (trust  me, I've had the privilege of seeing many photos and videos of her).  Well, Tanya's family just received their TA (travel approval) and will be leaving for China in approximately three weeks.  That being said, the funds needed to get there are really tight and, at the request of several friends and family members (including me), Tanya has opened up to the idea of putting a donations widget on her blog.  Will you consider giving?  Even the smallest gifts will help them on their journey to this beautiful little girl.

I understand, though, that giving comes with a price - so Tanya has found several people who have happily donated prizes to be given away in a drawing and all you have to do to be entered in those drawings is give a suggested donation of $10 or more.  How do you do that?!  Well, you can visit the blog, Bringing Khloe Home, which was made for this very purpose (this is also where you should go to view those great prizes!).  Otherwise you can donate on the widget that is in my right sidebar (this is the widget that will contribute to their adoption, I just volunteered to put it up on my blog as well).  More than anything, I encourage you to visit Bringing Khloe Home and read their story of where they are right now.  My sister is a very phenomenal woman, her family is completely amazing, loving and generous; they helped me through some of the hardest times of my life, and now it's my turn to pay it forward back to her.  Will you help?!  Any donation is greatly appreciated!  I also understand being in a position of not being able to make a donation and, if you are in that position, can you make a decision to pray for my sister's family as they raise funds, throughout their travels, and as they bring that precious babe home?!

Every prayer and every donation is appreciated!

I'm starting to believe that maybe, just maybe, I need to stop being surprised by the amazing things that come out of Colin's mouth, but sometimes they just surprise me to the fullest!  Tonight was no exception.  He and I are sitting at our dining room table; he is drawing a picture and I am catching up on some emails.  The dishwasher is running (loudly, I might add!) and our radio is playing KTIS (the local Christian music station) in the background.  Note that it is playing, but the dishwasher almost completely drowns it out.  So ... as we're sitting here, Colin looks up from his drawing and asks,

"Why does my God take away?"

Confused by where this statement came from, I asked him what he meant.  His response almost blew me away, "The song just said that God gives and takes away, but why does my God take away?"  Oh to explain something so difficult to someone so young!  We talked about it for awhile and I tried to explain it to him in the terms of teddy bears (i.e. when we do something that makes God happy, He will reward us just like Kami and dad might reward you with a teddy bear when you're good.  In the same way, He will take things away from us when we're not doing things that make him happy, like when you're naughty and Kami and dad have to take your teddy bear or another toy away).  He seemed to understand this and was happy with that answer, stating, "So sometimes God just has to punish us because we don't listen to Him, just like our moms and dads have to punish us when we're naughty?"

I'm amazed at his understanding.  Sweet Lord, please guard his heart so that he will learn to always love You!

That is the lesson I learned today.  Throughout the start of my pregnancy, the only thing I seem to be hungry for is fruits and vegetables.  The very thought of meat makes me want to gag (which is odd because I normally just LOVE me some meat!), so I have been filling up on fruit, fruit and more fruit ... and the occasional vegetable.  The problem?  I am experiencing some slight nausea, and I discovered that it doesn't go away until I get some carbs.  What does that mean?  Well, a trip to the grocery store of course!

So, the three older kids and I headed out to Target (Colin was in preschool and my older kids didn't have school today) because I had some purchases to make for our addition (you know, closet hangers and the missing screws to complete my desk assembly!).  Somehow, most of the purchases I ended up making were food!  While I already stocked up on fruit yesterday at our local grocery store, today was the day to stock up on carbs, including pizza and Ramen Noodles.  Yep, that's right, I said Ramen Noodles.  It's quite odd because I swore I would never eat the things again after my moneyless phase of life, yet hearing my friend, Kim, talk about them on Saturday night gave me the most insane craving for them.  Somehow I was able to allow that craving to subside until today, but I guarantee you that there was nothing stopping me from getting my Ramen Noodles today.

Who would've thought?!

Sheesh!  This pregnancy thing is definitely a trip ... and I'm enjoying every minute of it!  God is good .. ALL the time!

I will admit it ... I'm in love!