change of plans

I'm glad to say that there has been a change of plans for Thanksgiving. We're going to Grandma and Grandpa Ballard's for dinner. I'm glad to not be going out to eat but I also feel kind of bad b/c I know its hard on them to have us all at their house. No matter what we do Grandma always cooks so much and its a lot of work for them. 

I am thankful just to be able to get together and to have a family to get together with. 

holiday blessings

What a great time I'm having being a mommy. Kayler is doing so well. She's doing really good on a feeding schedule and last night she slept through the night except for one feeding. Justin and I were so excited when we woke up at 6am and she was still sleeping. She woke up at 6:30 happy and hungry. She's growing and changing everyday and I already miss how small she was when she was born. 

I'm so very proud of Justin as a daddy. I knew he would be great but God has truly blessed me with such an amazing husband and father for our daughter. He doesn't mind getting up with her at night and he is so excited to spend time with her when he gets home from work. 

Thanksgiving is right around the corner and I have to say that I'm a little disappointed with our plans. We're going out to eat with Justin's family for lunch. It's just not the same as cooking and sitting around the table in our own home with our family. We're doing it for convenience sake but its still not the same. I may cook a small amount and have my dad over on Friday or over the weekend. I at least want to make a pumpkin pie and I love to have left over turkey. We'll see what I have time to do. 

Great news for my friend Jenni and her family. Granton got the all clear to come home from KC. They will be home on Monday, just in time for a blessed Thanksgiving. Also they found out they are having a girl so there will be no chance of her having the same disorder that Granton has. I'm excited b/c our little girls will grow up together and be in the same grade in school just like Jenni and I. We've been friends for 20 years and I hope that our girls will grow to be just as good of friends as Jenni and I are. Good friends like that are hard to come by. I'm so happy for her and her family.

As we approach the holidays I am very thankful for my new family. The holidays are hard as I always miss my mom and brother even more than normal. This year I feel I have a little piece of each of them in Kayler. I have enjoyed talking to her about her Nana and uncle Michael and I took her to their gravesides last week. I will do my very best to have her know as much about each of them as possible, especially that they are always watching over her and are her special angels in Heaven. I know they sent her to me. Thank you God for my family, bless each of them. 

don't worry, pray

I am trying to start a new habit. I have a desire to intervene for my daughter, husband, family and friends through prayer. This comes from what the sermons at church have been about. I believe a couple of weeks ago Billy spoke about what power prayer has, how it should be the first thing we do not the last thing we turn to. And how amazing it can be to lift someone up to the Lord. 

I'm slowly learning how to focus while I pray. I often have a hard time with my thoughts wondering away and I lose track of what I'm doing, thinking or saying to God. 

Lately, as you can imagine, my focus has been on Kayler and on Justin and I learning how to be parents. I've been praying for wisdom, guidance, knowledge and His will to be done in all our lives. Finances have also become a focus. As we have a lot of debt with our building and business investments. I know they will one day pay off and we'll be glad that we took this risk. Right now it's tough though. I know with the economy its tough on everyone. So I pray for guidance and wisdom in creating a plan and a budget for the coming year. 

I don't really know where to start as far as making a budget. It's something I've had a desire to do for a while and I have started several times but have a really hard time knowing where to start and keeping up with it. If anyone has any advise let me know. I would appreciate it. 

Don't worry, pray. As I am a worrier this is hard but I'm learning. 

A busy world

I knew my life would change once Kayler arrived but I didn't know how differently wonderful it would truly be. Except for the first few days home, which were really rough, I've had a great time getting to know my daughter. We are both learning how to do things and I think I'm doing a pretty good job of figuring it out as I go. After all she doesn't know that I don't know what I'm doing. :) 

I'm loving all her little noises and faces that she makes. She's a really good baby so far. She usually sleeps about 3 to 4 hours at night and lets mom and dad get a little rest. She did however get her daddy's appetite so we eat a lot and often. 

We've been out of the house several times. We voted last weekend and went for a few short visits. We've also been to church twice and she was very good. It was fun to show her off to everyone but I do notice that I'm a little protective of her when people go to touch her. It kind of makes me cringe thinking about all the germs. 

I got some really good advice from a friend and co-worker who came to help over the weekend. I was feeling confused and a little guilty about some advice I'd received and choices that we'd made about caring for Kayler. She said as long as you are doing what you need to do for your daughter that's all that matters. She also went on to say that my sanity is important for Kayler too. I totally agree. 

Better run. Fussy baby.