Reflecting back & Looking forward...

These moments are so great to reflect back on. Here I was 9 months pregnant with our first child. Jared and I had only been married 13 months and we were about to step into a whole new chapter of our lives "parenting" =) no regrets! We were living in our first apartment, Jared was the youth pastor at our church and I was working at a daycare.

Our sweet girl's first moments in this world. 


Addy arrived here by means of C-section. This little girl was showing us what her personality was going to be before we even saw her.  She was breech the last 5 weeks of my pregnancy and despite all of our efforts to get her to turn, the Lord saw fit for her to remain that way, and so for safety reasons we chose the C-section.  


About 3 months after this pic above we moved into our first home in Cordova. We also moved in with us 2 near and dear friends Don and Megan Gale (best decision) and my grandmother (mom's mom) who lived with us till she passed away 5 weeks before Micaiah was born. WOW God you are so faithful!

Pregnant with Micaiah 


My 2nd birth. With Mac we found out we were having a boy. We kept Addy's gender a surprise. I remember I was SO thrilled when Jared came home from work early and told me were going to have an ultrasound!!!!


Micaiah's birth was the hardest thing I have ever done physically (giving birth without any drugs) and hands down one of the most joyful and exciting times Jared and I have had together.

2 hours before I would go to the hospital and find out I was 3 cm dilated because my water broke in bed, we went to the movies where I was having contractions 7 minutes apart the WHOLE time. What was I thinking?? I wasn't! I remember wanting to get out of the house so bad because I was psyching myself out with timing my contractions. I guess going to the movies didn't really help! haha!


THANK YOU JESUS for sustaining me and everyone involved those 13 long hours in the hospital.

My 2 babies! 

the sweetest thing...just look at that face

=D

cooking...I think? she seems a little confused. Probably could of picked a better picture. lol

playtime with dad is the BEST.

Looking forward I truly do want to embrace every moment with them. I can get so caught up and consumed with what is happening right in front of me (spilled milk, huge tantrums, squished banana in the carpet..that has actually happened..not fun) that I let that dictate how I am going to feel and act towards them the rest of the day. You know?? I need not get so caught up in the "little things" that I miss out on enjoying my kids.

Challenge: This week try taking 30 minutes of your day to just have FUN with your children. Get down at their level. Laugh with them. Play things with them that you know they will have a ball doing. Be silly =)  I feel like as mommy's we are always standing and doing. Understandably so with taking care of our home.  Try it out and see what kind of smiles you can bring to your babies faces.

Sweet Pea Accessories =D

 Hey Family and Friends!

 Wanted to let you in on these super cute accessories for girls that we will be selling to help raise funds for our adoption. We just found out today that we are now #11 on the waiting list. If you keep up with our blog then you may remember that not even 3 weeks ago we were #13. WOW!! They have really got the ball rolling over there which is great. More and more precious boys and girls are being given a forever home.
Our dear friends the Barkers received their referral about a month ago and now are waiting to receive their court date to travel. WOOHOO!!  here is her blog. It's one of my favorite ones to read! You should check it out.
So back to these fun little hair accessories...I made them a while back and wanted to begin selling them a lot sooner but just fell behind. You know things happen. Really it was probably just my own laziness. Anyways, I have sold some through different means but I thought I would take my next step by posting them on my blog for you to look at and if you are interested in them for your little girl, or you know a friend who would enjoy them you can pass the word.

100% of everything we make goes straight to our adoption fund. The pictures I posted are ones I have made and are ready to sell. The prices will be below the pics. Enjoy!

Style #1 These first 6 hats are so cute. They would be for smaller heads. Newborn- age 2 at the oldest.

Bonus! All these flowers can unclip from the hat to be used as an individual clip.

I am super laid back so if you wanted to switch a clip around because you liked another color pattern better I would be totally fine with that! This is just the style I chose when putting them together.

These fun springy hats cost $8

 Now on to style #2. I love these! Confession: I really wanted to keep one for Adoniah but took the high road and chose not to. =D  (maybe I will get the accessories to make one another time). These clips can come off too.

These hats sell for $15

These will fit older girls.  I would guess between ages 3 and up. This is what the catalog gave for sizes. I believe they said up to age 8. As always this age range can vary. You could always come by and look to get a better idea.

 

Style #3.  These are beanie caps. So stylish =) Sizes would fall between age 2 and 6. Once again it all can vary on head size.

Up close view. These flower clips can come off as well.

These beanie caps sell for $12

  Style #4. These aren't anything new to the eyes. We have all seen these adorable head bands on girls.

THESE SELL AT $6

If you are here you have reached the end of the page. THANK YOU for scrolling through.

A few things: 

Remember these that are posted are ready to sell! If you like them and would want to purchase some you can get to me through email letting me know the style you want and any other questions. Here is my email: stepholangylangy@gmail.com

It would do us a great help if you knew friends who would enjoy these to send them a link to my blog, or post the link on your facebook.  =D 

You are GREAT! Thanks for checking out Sweet Pea Accessories!

Mommy's read this!

Check out this missionary mom's advice to mothers on cultivating a heart for motherhood.   It is called the 3 C's and the next two will be discussed in an upcoming post. I found this very encouraging! She also posted some additional links that she wrote related to this topic towards the bottom.

My Grandpa!

Us over the Christmas Holiday's

Cherished memories

My dad and papa

I love this man so much! He was diagnosed with stomach cancer almost two years ago. The doctors did not give him long to live for several factors. Today he is still married to his beautiful wife of over 60 years. =)

At his first appointment to start his chemo he told the doctors quote " Now i just want you to know I understand that you are my doctor and will do whatever it takes to help me, but I need you to know that my Lord Jesus he is my first doctor and is able to heal me in the blink of an eye." I wonder how the doctors responded to that?!? What a man of faith! He has been through more in his life than I could possibly share in this post but through every season one thing has remained constant in his life his love and dedication to our God.

 Every time Jared's monthly clean-up rolls around I take that opportunity to go down to Mississippi and spend an evening with them talking, taking pictures and catching up, and letting the kids play with their grandparents. He means so much to me and he is without a shadow of a doubt ready to enter into those mansions prepared for him before the ages began. Him and Maw Maw are such godly examples to how I want my life to be lived out towards my spouse, kids, neighbors, and strangers.

Written with much love towards 2 people I adore!

Abide in the Vine

 Once again another beautiful day outside! It is has been a great weekend, and I hope to post some pictures soon of our outings together with the family.

On a side note I came across this really cool blog called shabby blogs.com. It's so neat. I added some cute fun free stuff to my blog from there. It was very simple to transfer it over to my current blog. Check it out I think you will enjoy it too!!

I am sitting outside while the kids play around in the backyard. I still can't believe our crazy weather. A few days ago we had a friend come cut down a huge over sized tree from our yard  (but that's boring right?) after that he built us an amazing garden that exceeded my expectations! It's so much bigger than what I thought and there is so much room to plant! I am so new to this "gardening thing" i am sure it will be like teaching a child to ride a bike for the first time.  Wait! I have done that before! Let me recap what that was like.....

For example with Addy when she got her first bike for Christmas she was:

1. Unsure if she was ready to  try something new for the first time, but also very excited about the thought of learning.
2. She had to take baby steps and master certain things so she could understand how the bike worked.
3. She would get frustrated at times when she couldn't figure certain things out or would mess up =(
4. In the end after she kept practicing and had encouragement from others to keep going she now can successfully ride her pretty pink bike down the sidewalk without mom or dad holding on.
5. She is proud of her accomplishments =)!! You reap what you sow!

I have a feeling this garden will look quite similar to Addy learning to ride her bike (with training wheels) for the first time. =D lol.

Thinking on this garden and the necessity of taking care of it so it will grow and operate to it's fullest potential reminded me of Psalm 1 that I was reading this morning. If our delight is in the law of the Lord and we meditate on it day and night we will be blessed, and be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water who yields it's fruit in due season and it's leaves does not wither.

We have to ABIDE in God and his word! When we are attached to the vine receiving that nourishment and life we will continue to grow and flourish in the attributes God desires for us to increase in. However, when we detach ourselves from that source of life we will begin to wither and die inside. I have known that feeling personally for my own life.

Just as a small tomato plant needs to be planted firmly in the soil, receive sunlight, water, and constant care so it can grow the way it's naturally meant to, on a grander level of importance so does our new man! If you need a reminder on the truth of abiding in the word of God read the book of 1 John. John is all about it!

Thanks for tuning in.

Makin Progress......

 At the end of December we finished all of our paperwork for our adoption and got put on the waiting list at the babies home. At that point I believe it was December 30th and we were #15 in waiting. It's been about 6 weeks and we have moved to #13 on the list. Such great news for us! I know it seems like we should be further along than that but we know that everyone over in Uganda and our amazing agency is working hard and diligently to give these precious babies a forever home.
 Jared and I have found a strong peace in Christ that Isaiah WILL come to us but when that exact day and time is we can only walk in faith and continue to look to our God and pray earnestly that it will be soon!!

Reflect on this for a moment!

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