Our Crew

Our Crew

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Copying Jennifer Latham...ha

Sooo...my friend Jennifer did this on her blog because one of her friends did it on her blog. Guess what? I am doing it! It is fifteen things I am not afraid to admit. I was very intrigued by Jennifer's blog because some of her answers I might put too because I feel the same way!! Ok...here it goes...
1. I secretly love going into Parker's room at night before I go to bed hoping he see's me just so I can rock him for a few minutes. He is a good sleeper...he goes straight back to sleep. I know I am HORRIBLE!
2. I try really hard to always ask my friends questions about their lives...and not always talk about mine. I beat myself up about it if I get off the phone and we only talked about me.
3. Disciplining is NOT a peace of cake right now!
4. I love being pregnant, but this pregnancy is harder on me than Parker's. I complain more often. Not good!
5. I get my feelings hurt when my friends don't call me to check in and see how things are going or just to talk. I know...it is silly! Everyone has a life and cannot always stop to call me.
6. I have decided that everyone is complicated in some way(except my husband...I truely feel that way!!).
7. I am too hard on Derek.
8. It drives me BONKERS when kids(particularly my nephews because I am with them often) hang onto my stroller or grocery cart while shopping. I need to get over it but it is a pet peeve(sp?)!!
9. I analyze and judge other people too much. Analyzing other people has become a hobby and I need to STOP!
10. I am working on doing my quiet time more. I love spending time with the Lord and living in His perfect peace.
11. I love feeling Micah in my belly. Even if it is at 2:00am.
12. I am so looking forward to going to a wedding in Atlanta with my husband for 3 days without a child. FINALLY he cannot be called into work! Ditto that about Micah coming also.
13. I cannot wait until my parents move here. I get so excited thinking about it!
14. I miss B'ham, but are feeling more like home in Austin.
15. I love to sit on the couch at night with my husband. Eat a late night snack and watch our shows.

Friday, September 26, 2008

Vent Session

Hey Everyone! Today's blog is about me and a struggle I am having. Ha! Sorry!
I have to ask. How many of you out there have started your own business? Or really, how many of you have husbands who have started their own business? Advice: DON'T DO IT! I don't really mean that but right now I am struggling. Our business is doing so well for which I feel SO very blessed by, BUT I NEVER see my husband. I know some of you are not like this. But I am the type of person who there is no amount of money in this world that someone could give me and say "but the only catch is your husband will be gone all the time" and me be happy with that. It is not in my blood at all. Family time, quality with my husband and kids is SO important to me. Right now, I feel like I never get it. The moving business is a 7 day a week job. It never ends. Derek has done moves until midnight before...he has been on a move Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs, Fri, Sat, and Sun. They have tried really hard to stop all moves on Sunday but somehow one squeezes in the schedule here and there. I have to say it is stressful for us(me, Kimberly, and my mom) as wives and it is stressful for our husbands. Although, we have been told by someone who started his own moving business that the first year is by far the hardest. And was actually the hardest year of this man's life. WOW! Nice to hear when you are going through it BUT I am ready for this first year to be done with!!!! On top of the fact that we are a huge part of a brand new church plant. I know that Derek would love to put more time into Free Chapel then he has available. Both SquareCow Moovers and Free Chapel are his passion. But one definitely gets more of his attention than the other. He has no choice.
Derek and I have argued, fussed, been emotional, etc. more now then we ever have been. Nothing too terribly bad. But our lives are totally different then they were in B'ham. There Derek worked 8-5 Mon-Fri. We went to church on Sundays and some Wed. That was it! It was calm...easy...fun. At the same time we prayed that God would give us something to be passionate about. A ministry for us to pour our lives into. Here we are! Boy did He answer our prayers!! I know that this is where we are supposed to be and this is what we are supposed to be doing. God has blessed SquareCow and Free Chapel beyond our own imaginations. You would think it would be easy right?! Well...I hope and pray that not too long from now I blog again about how the first year was hard but it was all worth it. I hope I can say that Square Cow has offices in several cities across the US. I hope I can say that Free Chapel has reached so many people for Christ and grown so much that we have to have several services on Sunday. I believe these things will happen. But, I know that I need to enjoy where I am at in life right now. I was thinking how happy I am that we are doing this whole new business thing now while I only have one child instead of 5 years down the road when I have 3 or 4 children and it is chaotic. THAT is when I really want my husband around.
Sorry for the venting session. I just had to!! It is good for me to let it out. Please pray for us. Well, for me...so I don't get so frustrated and irritated. So that I constantly remember God's blessings and that I don't take them for granted. And that I embrace this time of our lives and love the good things instead of focusing on the petty things. Thanks guys!

Friday, September 19, 2008

Free Chapel Kid's Ministry and the BIG lauch!

This past Sunday Free Chapel had the BIG LAUNCH! And whew! We were soooo busy!! I mentioned that Derek's family had been here twice. This is why! They were so sweet to fly in just to keep Parker for us for the weekend knowing that we wouldn't be around. I think they all had a blast! Derek and I were busy from Friday until Sunday EVERY HOUR! We had a tailgate party at the local highschool where we handed free footballs that had our logo on it and free food. Saturday we had breakfast together, then posted Free Chapel postcards door to door in several neighborhoods, THEN past out cookies to local stores employees and invited them to Free Chapel. We had prayer and then had the big launch(Derek and I were there at 6:30am) on Sunday. But, it was all worth it!!! We had 166 people come to the first service! I am over Kid's ministry and I have been running 6 kids during preview services. On Sunday I had 19 kids!!!!! That is just elementary kids! Here are some pictures of my kid's ministry sign in table and stage. We also have a play area that the kids stay in until service which has games, crafts, etc.
Please pray for another great turn out this weekend!!! I truely believe that God is changing people's lives!
 

 

 

 
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Happy Birthday Sambo!

For Sam's third birthday party we went to Rock 'N River Aquatic Center in RoundRock. It was so fun! We will DEFINITELY have to visit there next summer. It is like a mini water park and only cost $3-$5 to get in. It has slides and a lazy river and a water play house for the little kids. We all stopped at Chick-fa-la on the way and then had cupcakes, juicboxes, and suckers. Ha! Fun!

The boys at the partee not including the babies.

Parker in his diaper LOVING the sucker from Sam for his party favor.

Lawson snoozing away! So sweet!

Mt. Bonnell

Since I last posted Derek's family has been here twice!! The first time his mom, dad, sister, cousin, papa parker, papa mills, and mama rose all visited. During that visit we went to Mt. Bonnell on a REALLY hot day!!! NOT a good idea! You have to climb I think 99 steps to get to the top and I would NOT recommend letting your toddler walk at all! They could fall off of a cliff. It honestly freaks me out a bit. But, if you can hold onto your toddler or if it is just you and your hubby it is a beautiful place to go. I have posted about it before. One side of Mt. Bonnell you can see downtown and the other side you can see down the Colorado River. So, Justin, Derek's cousin had to carry Mama Rose(she is a tiny thing) a little over half way up the 99 stairs. Ha! It was quite a sight. I wish I would have gotten a picture of that. Here are some sweet pictures of Parker and DaddEEE(how he says it).



Bored in the car

One day I decided that Parker and I would ride with Derek and Wade to an estimate. Usually, their estimates only take 10 minutes to 30 mintues at the most. So, I thought, well...why not?! This estimate took about 45 minutes to an hour. Yup! So, we got bored...well..I got bored in the car and took pictures. On a side note, they got the job and it was a huge job. They had to pack for these people who owned a huge house and moved them to a temporary location. Then they will move them back into the same house and unpack for them. Woo Hoo!



Our Little Micah

Once again...tiny picture. Ha! Still have't taken much time to figure out how to make it bigger. Anyways, here is sweet little Micah at 16 weeks. Now, I am about to be 20 weeks so I am sure he is much bigger!! I cannot believe I am halfway through my pregnancy!!!! Crazy! Micah is moving around a lot more now. I feel him a lot around the 7-10 pm range. I think that might be a really special time for me, him, and Derek. Since Parker will be in bed and I am sure I will be nursing him during that time, at least for a little while. I look forward to nursing again. I loved it with Parker and I miss it!! I can't remember if I said this in my last post but Micah is measuring big. Although, I am not too surprised. Parker was a big boy. He weighed 8 lbs. 7 oz when he was born. And he was 4 days early!!! So, hopefully Micah will not outweigh him and I am sure for us to accomplish that I will have to be induced or go into labor a little early. Whichever is fine with me. I know the Lord will take care of it. I am not too interested in pushing out a baby much bigger than Parker was.
I am finding myself MUCH hungrier lately. Uh oh! I probably need to watch myself. I go in for my next appointment Oct. 2nd. Not to thrilled about finding out how much weight I have gained. I know it is coming because I haven't really gained any so far! Ahhh! :)

Thursday, September 4, 2008

KinderMusik

Sooo...today Derek and I are pretty sure we have decided to enroll Parker in a Kindermusik class for the Fall. It is so funny that this has come up because I was just talking with my good friend, Mary Ann, about how she might enroll her son, Beau, in Kindermusik. I told her that I would love to do that but it cost money...and not something I am interested in right now. Anyways, what triggered my thoughts on this is today Ashley, Jeremy and I were talking about how Michael Phelps got started in swimming. And how they noticed at such a young age that he had talent. My mind started reflecting on all the times we have said that we can truely notice a love for music in Parker. It is so obvious that other people have noticed it too. I just think that he has some talent there for music and we really want to encourage it now rather than let it slip through the cracks. So, I started on the journey of finding a music class for him. I needed to know how much they cost and all the details. I talked to two different Kindermusik studios and the second one I LOVED! She has owned her studio for over 11 years. She really helped me understand the importance of music in children even at an early age(which I have heard a lot from different sources). The cost is not outrageous...and included in that is two CDs to take home...two song books( I think)...and some instruments for his age. Also, after being asked 50,000 questions(ha ha) she told me that I can enroll Parker in the 18month-3 years old class even though he won't be 18 months old until Oct. Which I am glad about because I didn't really want him being the oldest in the class. Plus, the class below him is for 0-18months and that is mostly a listening class but not much hands on.
I will keep you updated on how it goes. We go on Thursday and I am super excited!!! I might be able to post some pictures of it. Our little musician. Ha ha!
Peace...