It's a First!

Little Guy turned 1 year old on Monday, December 3rd! We had a great party on December 2nd. Here's a picture of him eating his cake.. he did quite well. He dug into his little cake and smeared his icing all over everything. I was so proud! He's not walking just yet, but I think he's getting close. He loves walking while holding on to things and occasionally lets go to stand on his own until he realizes he isn't holding on. It's such a great time in his life.. he's so sweet.. all the kisses and loving he gives. I love it! I'm so blessed!

Prayer Request - please pray for our family.. Big Guy is trying to get back to a dayshift position at work and we anxiously await an opening so we can spend more time together. It's been a year since he went to second shift to help with Little Guy and it's been a rough year with little time together. We have Little Guy at a local sitter, she's a friend of ours and she's great! She LOVES him and she has a little girl that are abou the same age and they play so well together.

New Pics

Okay.. not a lot to blog about, but had to update with a new pictures.. too cute! Lil guy turns 1 in just a little over a week.. I can't believe it! I can't wait for him to start walking.. and talking.. but I'm sure he will in his own good time. Love You All!
God Bless You!

Personality Test

Okay.. not what I expected.. extrovert?? Since when??

Horray.. he did it!!

We've hit a new milestone for lil guy! About two weeks ago he started crawling, slowly at first and fussing the whole time, but he was crawling! Now he's picking up speed and pulling himself up at furniture and chairs. I'm so proud of him. He's 9 months now and doing great. He was just at the doctor today and he's now 31 and 1/4 inches tall and 21 pounds. He loves trying new finger foods.. anything I'm eating is fair game to him.. He actually really likes peas, sugar snap peas, carrots, and of course cheerios.. oh and his little puffs!

As well as his new skills of crawling and standing up, I have to indulge in a story of his other new skill. lil guy actually called 911 the other week and had the cops at our door one morning. Silly us, we left him play with the phone (he loves the phone!) and he somehow dialed 911 and when the operator heard a baby crying, or fussing.. she sent the local cops to check on things. Well, Big guy was caught of guard and finally figured out what happened. Needless to say, we no longer let him play with the phone or our cell phones.. And yes, he does have some play phones, but to him they don't hold a candle to the real thing.. :)

Is it true what they say?? Does bad news come in 3's?

I don't know why, but I've always heard people say bad things come in three's. Maybe it's silly.. but the other night I got three calls right after another of bad news. I could really use some prayer for these 3 situations. In order of the calls:

1. My sister-in-law, Diane, called to say she lost her job she'd been working at for 12 years. She was a nurse's aide at a nursing home and there was some kind of mis-understanding from what she said that they accused her of insubordination and left her go. Please pray the Lord will use this situation to draw her to him.

2. Big Guy called next and told me he would be, once again, working till 2 a.m. Overtime. Overtime sounds great, however, poor Big Guy has been working every night at least 2 hours and many nights 4 hours over. He's been working the past 4 Saturdays and hasn't had much of a chance to catch up on his rest, much less to spend time with little guy and myself. As many of you know, Big Guy works 2nd shift so he can take care of little guy during the day while I'm at work and so we only have the weekends to spend together. He's so overwhelmed he's mentioned looking for another job. Please pray for strength for him and for discernment as to what to do about his job.

3. Last, but not least, my sister, Kathy called. She's been having some issues with the family. Recently she had a problem with my parents. I'm very close with my parents and I believe that my siblings resent that at times. Please pray for Kathy as well as my parents as they attempt to reconcile. Pray against any bitterness and miscommunication. This seems to be a re-occuring issue.

I know God is in control of all of these situations.. I pray he will use these situations with my sister and my sister-in-law to draw them to him.

Thanks for your prayers!

Missing Manda... :(

It's been 3 days at my new job, and I'm missing my Manda terribly!! I miss her bubbly "Good Morning!" I miss her popping into my office just to say "Hi" or give me checks to process.. I miss all my CCC friends, of course, but my Manda.. she was special! We've talked everyday, but it's just not the same. I haven't laughed much the past few days, and for those that know me, that's unheard of!! I'm praying God will send me a friend here that can make me laugh, it'll never be like my Manda and I together, but it'd be nice to have someone to laugh with at work.

I wrote a little poem today entitled:

"My Manda"

She's IMPOSSIBLE to replace
I miss her beautiful, smiling face
She could always make me laugh
Always keeping me on the right path
She'll always be in my heart
She's been there right from the start
She may never know her impact
I'm missing her, that's a harsh fact
Neither of us thought we'd be this blue
I guess we didn't really have a clue
Our heart strings are forever entwined
God knew what he was doing, made us 2 of a kind
I thank God daily for my BEST FRIEND
I pray our love as friends will never end

Okay, corny maybe, but it's all true!! LOVE YOU MY MANDA!! Can't wait to see you again!!

Answered Prayer

God is so good! I wanted to share some recent miracles where God just really answered my prayers and has done a real work in me.

A few weeks ago my right knee began to really bother me, it felt swollen and stiff, but didn't look swollen. It was almost as if it felt like it was full of fluid and very uncomfortable.. not overly painful, but well, you get the picture. I was thinking it might be arthritis. I had some people pray with me at my church and I kept praying and hoping that I'd wake up the next day and it would be back to normal. A few days later, while still dealing with this problem, we had an All-Staff meeting at work and my Manda prayed for me for my knee as well as other stuff, of course, and after that it felt better, and every day after that it felt better and better till it was back to normal! Praise God!!

Writing about that miracle, reminded me of an even bigger miracle that I just have to share. So, here it is.. Big guy and I were married for several years and I had been in school a lot of that time.. I was getting close to finishing school, so we decided to start trying for a baby. We prayed it would be God's timing, but also I was getting close to 29 and knew I really wanted to have our first child before I was 30! I know... drama.. ugh.. 30!! Anyway, I kept praying and month after month, nothing happened. At times it was stressful, I took way too many pregnancy tests and had, in my mind, all but given up. I was approaching my 30th birthday and I started praying, OK God, I know I can't have my baby by my 30th birthday, but couldn't I ATLEAST be pregnant for my 30th birthday!! I guess I didn't think it was too much to ask.. So my 30th birthday came and that night we were at dinner and I said to Big guy, I guess it didn't come true.. I was sad.. but Big guy reassured me and comforted me. Less than one month after my birthday I took a test after being "late" for a week, and found out we were expecting!! I cried and said "Praise you Lord!" I was so overwhelmed! Big guy was overwhelmed with excitement! We went to the doctor and he said that my date of conception was 3 days prior to my 30th birthday! Yeah God!! I was so amazed that he cared so much about me, and about my, seemingly insignificant, wishes because I was paranoid about becoming 30!


Okay, one more quick story. After having lil guy, I started praying that God would open a door for me to find a job closer to home. To the dismay of my CCC coworkers, he answered that prayer and I start my new job August 6th. Please pray for me as I transition. Although I am excited about spending more time with my family, I know I will miss my CCC friends terribly!

Praise God for answered prayer! Amen!

Go Figure!

Mingle² - Online Dating

My 8 Things

I was tagged by my good friend - Classic Mama to post my 8 things you may not know about me. After much thought, here they are:

1. I like to go camping for vacation - now this may depend on your definition of "camping". Mine includes a/c and running water :) My Manda laughs at me all the time because I go camping within like 30 miles of home.. :)

2. I play video games, love to win and conquer my video games.. I can be competitive.. Depending on the game, I can become slightly obsessed until I complete and conquer the entire game (of course this was all pre-baby)

3. I LOVE to do taxes! Yep, that's the Accountant in me.. just love telling people how much they are getting back, not so in love with telling people they owe :(

4. I don't wear skirts, dresses, or open toed shoes.. (well hardly ever - it's definitely a rarity) Also I paint my toe nails, which some find silly since I don't show them often. Thanks Manda!

5. I have OCD when it comes to my work, my desk at work, and certain areas of my house, but other areas I couldn't care less - and it shows!

6. I enjoy washing and detailing my own car, I'm very picky - so I only let certain people detail or wash it.. like Mr. Clean.. he does a fabulous job!! Never been disappointed!! Thanks Mr. Clean!! You Rock!

7. I do not have a green thumb! I am currently keeping 3 plants alive at the same time and I'm in shock! Of course, one of them is in water all the time, so that may be cheating.. and Doreen helps me.. also cheating.. oh well, I don't like to get my hands dirty!

8. I NEVER skipped school.. Not saying I liked High School, but I always thought I'd get caught.. so I didn't do it.. I loved College (both times) and so I never skipped there either.. I know Boring!! :)

9. Okay I know there was only supposed to be 8.. but my Manda reminded me of one more.. my family has what I affectionately call "a Jerry Springer" story. My brother was married, now divorced, and he has 4 kids.. anyway.. my former sister-in-law left my brother, for my Uncle.. yes, you read that right.. my Uncle!! So my brother's kids are in a twisted way a cousin to their father, my former sister-in-law is now my Aunt (I'd never call her that) and the kid's grandmother (my Mom) is also their Aunt.. weird!! That's what I get for living in Lebanon!! haha!

Okay thought of one more sort of - I never touch raw meat!! Needless to say poor Big Guy does a lot of the cooking.. :)

I hope you enjoyed a laugh at my expense.. Sorry it took me so long to update my blog..

My Lil Guy

Ahh.. my first posting, atleast the first one written by me. (Thanks Manda!) My first post has to be about the beautiful, little gift from God I received on December 3, 2006.

After more than a year of praying, believing, and trying Big Guy and I found out we were expecting a sweet little one! I had a great pregnancy to start, never really had any morning sickness, as long as I snacked regularly - I was great! Until he started moving so much, I barely knew I was pregnant. I stopped getting sinus infections, my back was wonderful ( I go to the chiropractor regularly), my body was really enjoying being pregnant! 8 weeks away from my due date, I was diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes. I have a strong family history of diabetes and many people did not know about the diagnosis because quite simply, I blamed myself. I had a fabulous OB/GYN doctor, who was really encouraging and uplifting (he's a Christian) and he helped me through those final weeks. He helped me regulate my blood sugar through diet and exercise. Even when my blood sugar seemed so elevated that others thought I should be on insulin, he said no, I think you are doing fine. I tested my sugars 4 times a day for those 8-9 weeks and was glad to see the end!

The main concern with GD was that it could cause the baby to be too big. Because I had to eat so carefully in those several weeks, I only gained a total of 10 pounds my whole pregnancy. My Lil Guy was born after 20 hours of induced labor and was a healthy 7 pounds 9 ounces. He was soooo beautiful! I immediately fell in love with his midnight blue eyes and realized, Wow! I'm a Mom! At the ripe old age of 30, I was a Mom for the first time and it was wonderful!

I had a fabulous delivery, despite some trouble spots where I needed oxygen, and a slight scare of the need for a C-section, it was great! Despite my long labor, I only pushed for like 50 minutes and less than an hour after giving birth, I was up and in the shower and walked to my new post labor room. My Manda friend, as well as others, came to see me and Lil Guy later that day.. (I gave birth at 2:52 on a Sunday morning) I was so happy to see her smiling face. She was definitely an encouragement to me! ( You hear that Manda - you an encourager!)

God has really blessed us with a beautiful gift, and while we are still learning how to take care of this gift and growing in our new roles each day, we are loving it!! Please pray for us as we continue to ride this roller coaster called parenthood!

Not Me

This is actually not Stacy at all...It is her bestest friend in the whole widest world...Amanda aka Krazy Klinger. I set this blog up for her and it looked so empty that I decided that I would write something. So here it is...

Stacy is leaving Christ Community Church at the end of July. Why you ask, well it all boils down to a little boy she calls lil guy. Lil guy is only 5 months old and needs his mommy. I completely understand and I am happy for, No really I am. It's just that I won't get to see her everyday and that makes me sad : ( boo hoo for me. Well, Stacy has been an instant friend whom has shown me how to do your job with grace and mercy towards others even if they aren't so nice to you. She exemplifies Christ and that is exactly the friend I need to be around. Hopefully some of my "good" qualities have rubbed off of her as well. Those who know me are probably asking themselves..."what good qualities?" But I do have some. Enough about me.

So my friend, please don't ever forget us or let a little thing like distance stop us from hanging out and enjoying each others friendship. You will be missed more than you know. I love you!